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:Tweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the corner and saw my kids h…TweetsLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing A Comedy…
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:10 Rules of Internet – Anil DashA very useful, concise summary of web-en…BusinessParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesI'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is…
@ZCharisma Oh, now I feel bad. Similar:RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you, iPad3, but…TweetsWhat kids do when Dad…
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:A quick Sunday visit to #fortligonier with my history-loving son.A quick Sunday visit to #fortligonier wi…CultureApple faces threat of legal action over ‘in app’ paymentsI haven’t taken the plunge and installed…BusinessClose Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and Cultural Context (and a Rage Comic)I’m preparing to teach Shakespeare again…AcademiaTwo Artificial Intelligence (AI)…
…she’s pretending to be “Spock in a Tree on Omicron Ceti III.” Similar:I've got a lot to learn, but my #blender3D #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser, and this…AestheticsTwo classes will turn in final revisions at midnight Sunday, and final multimedia project…Still plenty of work to do before I fini…AcademiaSummer project: learning the Unity gaming engine.One bedtime about…
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 December 2000, I was blogging about typeface snobbery, freedom in video game…
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…CultureJudge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired…
Not my item, but the pathos caught my eye. Similar:1 small shirt for a man, 1 giant leap backward for women: ColumnIdea for a scientist pull-cord doll: “Fa…AestheticsGinger Christ Superstar!AestheticsThe Inner Light (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 25) When a probe-zapped Picard …Rewatching ST:TNG When a space probe …CultureCommunities of Play: The Social Construction…
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:Overheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you, iPad3,…
A new Emily Dickinson archive is online. Here is the opening of one of her most famous poems. Reading View for Fascicle 23. Similar:My undergraduate connects the Leontes/Polixenes conflict in The Winter's Tale to a pro wre…Today’s class on The Winter’s Tale was v…DramaDelightfully geeky news story about a legal kerfuffle over typefacesI’m very amused…
My wonderfully geeky tween made these Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde pendants with her Rainbow Loom. Next on her list: making Pac-Man. Similar:The Most Epic Demo in Computer History Is Now an OperaThis is nice, but what I really want to …AestheticsNASA | A View From The Other SideA number of people who’ve seen NASA’s…
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…