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:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaJury…

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

Not my item, but the pathos caught my eye. Similar:My big acting moment in this scene is declining a drink. #indie #filmAmusing"Khan!!! the Musical!!!" (Star Trek Parody) 6-Minute Highlight Reel 2022https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrfLWDbJ…AmusingCrazy-looking keyboards that never caught on As the typewriter become popular, it w…AestheticsBehold this stack of August Wilson library booksYay, libraries. I’m delighted that my…

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:Hello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsJudge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing…

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:When Robert Pinsky Wrote a Video Game[F]or a brief time in the mid-nineteen-e…CulturePaleo-Future: robotsThis is from the robots category of Pale…AestheticsIt's Science! Carolyn Uses Anastasia's Lip Balm KitMy friend Anastasia gave me…

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:Still shot from a flyover video that's been taking about 3 minutes to render each fra…AestheticsInfrared photo confirms Munch wrote "madman" inscription first noticed in 1904“Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” (“C…AestheticsEmily…

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:Proto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentAnd the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsYes, I…

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:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureOverheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management…

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:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesProto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureRT @DDeClaudio: Who do you think controls…

The t-shirt many professors would enjoy wearing

Inside Higher Ed Similar:In May, 2001 I was blogging about lanuguage, design and Cliffs NotesIn May 2001, I was blogging about B…AmusingAn Adjunct's Death Becomes a Rallying Cry for Many in AcademeBecause I blogged Kovalik’s editorial ye…AcademiaBad Writing Costs Businesses BillionsThis is thinkpiece rehtoric rather than …AcademiaHow to Lie with Data VisualizationData visualization is one of 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:And the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER…