The New York Times reported “Many Flee Homes to Escape `Gas Raid From Mars’–Phone Calls Swamp Police at Broadcast of Wells Fantasy” and the story of the hoax is firmly embedded in the history books. But the reports of streets full of panicked citizens don’t hold up to scrutiny. There’s only one problem: The supposed…
@ZCharisma On my blog I said my wife usually gives me nerdy DVDs (e.g. Mazes & Monsters), so I expect she’ll give me Zero Charisma one day. Similar:Maybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureI asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked…
My student journos were given one class period to film, edit, and publish a 2-min TV news story. Speed journalism! blogs.setonhill.edu/el200-2013-fa/… Similar:Tweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the corner and saw my kids h…TweetsCarolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Ref…Fascinating use of…
@ZCharisma Oh, now I feel bad. Similar:Loved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhi…TweetsMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you…
What can parents do to minimize their children’s risk of being hurt or killed by poison or sharp objects in Halloween candy? How many children would you say die each year from eating poisoned candy (or candy with razor blades and such) each Halloween? Just two or three? Maybe only one every few years? In…
My wife usually gives me nerd-themed DVDs as gifts, so I probably won’t make any effort to see this movie on my own. Still, I’m glad to know someone has made a movie that touches on the hipsterization of nerd culture, and I enjoyed reading the well-written review. Like lots of apologists and upholders of…
It: nailed. xkcd: Headlines. Similar:More modeling in #blender3d. Very happy with reflections and lighting. (The teacup is a po…DesignAs CRT Supplies Vanish the Classic Arcade Machine is Virtually DeadIf you understand the environment in whi…CultureStandardized testing: I opted my kids out. The schools freaked out. Now I know why.And so, on the first day of…
…she’s pretending to be “Spock in a Tree on Omicron Ceti III.” Similar:First they came… #kristallnacht @nccheshuFirst they came… #kristallnacht @ncchesh…PersonalAP Style: try to determine, and then respect, a source's preferences when it comes to…PersonalPAC-MAN: The Untold Story of How We Really Played the GameA fascinating study of the thinginess of…AestheticsChess with my son. As…
The observation car Pearl sings of her love for Rusty, in the “Like ‘Cats’ but with Trains” show “Starlight Express.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma4FusuIgSM By the way, that’s a Star Wars Stormtrooper outfit, with pink accents added by my wife. Post by Stage Right. Similar:In May, 2000, I was blogging about the 'I Love You' virus, hacking…
Back in my grad school days, I was called a “run-of-the-mill programmer” by a brilliant IT genius. For a guy whose only computer coursework consists of a Pascal class in high school (“taught” by a math teacher who didn’t know the language, and checked my answers against those in the teacher’s manual), I still consider…
King Henry rallies his troops just before the decisive Battle of Agincourt. From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,…
RT @textfiles: Hi internet. In another few minutes I go onstage to point everyone to archive.org/details/histor… and hopefully computer history … Similar:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesIn Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice…
Not my item, but the pathos caught my eye. Similar:Clever Modernization of Hamlet: Polonius with an iPhoneI teach Shakespeare in a literature clas…CultureAugust Wilson House officially opens in Pittsburgh's Hill DistrictThe August Wilson House officially opene…CultureA pleasant find: somebody left a painted rock by the side of the road.AestheticsFranz Joseph and Star Trek’s Blueprint CultureIn…
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: “It’s hard when your idols fall.” Tween: “That’s why I don’t have any. Except for you.” Similar:It's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you, iPad3, but…TweetsHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump…
A new Emily Dickinson archive is online. Here is the opening of one of her most famous poems. Reading View for Fascicle 23. Similar:Resources for combating sexual harassment in the newsroom — Society of Professional Journ…The Society of Professional Journalists …CulturePrime Stage Theatre Makes A Statement With Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” For Carolyn Jerz, who plays…
My wonderfully geeky tween made these Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde pendants with her Rainbow Loom. Next on her list: making Pac-Man. Similar:Sesame Street had a big plot twist in November 1986My older siblings say they remember our …CultureI sometimes snark at the @Turnitin interface, but…I sometimes snark at the @Turnitin inter…CybercultureThe Hunted (ST: TNG…
Have you heard the story about the lady who spilled coffee on herself and won millions of dollars from McDonald’s? Have you looked up the details on the story, or do you just know the story as a TV show punch line? Stella became a symbol for frivolous lawsuits and fodder for talk show hosts,…
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,…
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…