Interesting set of observations exploring the limits of omniscience and the sheer scale involved in watching an entire population. Failures in empathy lead to misinterpretation of anonymous rebellion in plain sight. Tolkien’s most potent and intimidating image of centralized surveillance, the Eye of Sauron atop a tower, taking in the whole world, has resonated with…
This project looks promising. I’ve donated the money I was going to spend on a haircut. We’re keeping our UI super simple. The experience is entirely sound and story: Writing + Voiceover + SFX + Music. With either a spoken word or a simple tap on the screen you can listen to the drama unfold…
A recent Pew study (Smartphone Ownership 2013) found that blacks were about 10% more likely than whites to own smartphones, and that young urban people regardless of income are very likely to own smartphones. (With older people, a smartphone is more of a luxury.) It’s little wonder, then, that phone-friendly Twitter has been such a…
These are shoe-holding racks at a local indoor play area, where I took my daughter and a friend for a few hours. Why buy six different rainbow-colored shoe-holding racks, if you’re not going to arrange them in the proper order? I really wanted to pick up the purple one and at least put it in…
Sample, improved lyrics: “An old man turned 98 /He won the lottery, and died the next day (from a severe paper cut from his lottery ticket).” Similar:Hemingway: The First Draft of Anything… Facebook.AmusingThe Child (TNG Rewatch: Season 2, Episode 1)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…CultureAll three shows have been sold out for over a month.…
Rewatching the classic Trek episode “The Conscience of the King,” which features a Shakespearean acting troupe. In one scene, McCoy writes a report on a wedge proto-iPad… …but in the very next scene Kirk scrawls on a piece of paper. This episode also features characters doing computer searches, using an exposition-friendly voice interface to call…
At least three journalists left NBC, after the network aired a tape of George Zimmerman, edited in a manner that substantially altered its content. Filed in Seminole County, the suit adds that “NBC News saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so set about…
Jon Negroni creates a meta-narrative to connect every Pixar movie, using Boo as the still point in the turning universe. Every Pixar movie is connected. I explain how, and possibly why. Several months ago, I watched a fun-filled video on Cracked.com that introduced the idea (at least to me) that all of the Pixar movies…
The contrast between KTVU’s treatment of its triumphs vs errors reminds us of the difference between journalism vs public relations. Similar:My Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump…
Last week, the Fox-afiliated KTVU fell for a prank, repeating offensive fake names for the pilots involved in the crash of Asiana Flight 214 last week. [S]even-year veteran KTVU producer Brad Belstock closed his @producerBB Twitter account after his last Friday tweet just moments after the names were read aloud on the air by Tori Campbell.…
Francesca Borri writes of being a freelancer and a woman covering the war in Syria. (When my life gets hectic, a story like this helps me keep some perspective.) Similar:Don't call it "social distancing" or you just might get a polite correction from the admin…AcademiaThis 8-Year-Old Chess Champion Will Make You SmileIn a homeless shelter…
Is your Sunday feeling incomplete because you haven’t read anything about punctuation today? This explanation of the semicolon should help. You’re welcome. Similar:Filmmakers fighting “Happy Birthday” copyright find their “smoking gun”Who owns the copyright to the “Happy Bir…BusinessCarolyn at about 7yo drew Titania in love with Bottom. #tbt #midsummerArtFantasticks (Theatre Factory, Oct 18-27) AestheticsThe Outsiders…
My wife is something of a hoarder. Now, as it happens, I have saved my half of the slip of paper that I tore so that we could write down each other’s phone numbers back when we were about 22, but she saves old catalogs and phone books (phone books!) from years ago. Sometimes, when…
So I’m not being selfish… this is a parenting strategy. Similar:Interface changes make it a little harder to work with Google's image searchWhen I’m looking for a picture I’m going…BusinessImagine all the people. Just reading their damned syllabus.These are not the rhetorical choices I w…AcademiaA fleet of drones performs a light show in Ireland for…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:Van Gogh Immersive Experience AestheticsFULL BLOOM (Aug 31-Sep 2)PersonalCaptain Gearhart found some stairwell problems on his latest #Unity3D tour of his #Blender… AestheticsShall we dance? The girl tries on her ball gown for The King and I. Her featured show is …DanceMy parents doing their…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:When a Blogger Shares a Too-good-to-be-true Meme Featuring Hilarious Handwritten Notes fro…Or something like that.HomeKirby Delauter SagaLet’s hope many, many more journalism st…HomeHypertext as a Teaching Tool — Brown University Poetry Classroom 1974This short film documents an early attem…AcademiaTolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?Interesting…
Similar:The Survivors (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three Episode 3) Charming geriatric love and a pacif…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….PopCultOpinion: Don’t Be Fooled by America’s Flattening CurveAnother example of effective new media d…Current_EventsFor some reason, I saw a bump in traffic to a page that linked to a "make-your-own-Trump-e… This sort of thing was funnier back …AestheticsA…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:Visiting my parents. Admiring their original Hallmark Enterprise Christmas ornament. I ask…Amusing"Shakespeare in Love" with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and Stage Right!When I teach Shakespeare, I will from ti…CultureLast night I dreamed…
Blogging this so I can find it when I teach my “News Writing” class this fall. People do like to prank journalists with fake names. In this case, the reporter did what you’re supposed to do — get confirmation — but sheesh. KTVU reports fake racist names of Asiana Airlines 214 pilots from NTSB intern…
I recently bought a new phone. since then, I have answered an incoming call in my car. It felt awesome. Similar:She doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash her Lemonheads and Smarties. ht…AmusingParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesMaybe…