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:Emily Short's advice on writing great game protagonistsAt GDC 2015, noted interactive fiction g…CybercultureUnscheduled Disasters in Journalism: Learn to DealIn school, we expect our professors to a…AcademiaFacebook Ad Refreshes…
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:RT @DDeClaudio: Who do you think controls the news…RT @DDeClaudio: Who do you think control…TweetsYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentJudge: Apple…
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:A Fistful of Datas (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 8) Worf Trapped in Western S…Rewatching ST:TNG Silly Gagh-Western …AmusingPeople we have a hole in the…
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:Facebook paid Teen Vogue to run a fake article praising Facebook for "helping ensure the i… After FB crowed about this sup…BusinessFact Check: No, an NPR story on the Trump supporters' attempted coup…
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:No, Dr. Seuss is not being "banned" or "censored" — but Dr. Seuss Enterprises is voluntar…It’s nothing new that Theodore “Dr. Seus…Books"We are not Amazon franchises": booksellers respond to Amazon Source Wonderful snark from an indie bookselle…AmusingThe storage shelves of my fantasy steampunk CGI starship…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:English teaching: Johnson: Talking past each otherWhen I got to college, I had already lea…AcademiaShy Preschooler Won't Say Her Lines in "Peter Pan" Rehearsal (Stage Right! Greensburg)Little Maggie isn’t so sure she wants to…DramaRenata, Carolyn and Alex in a scene from this weekend's Pippin.CultureI touched…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:The Declaration Of Independence, 240 Years Later (NPR)When in the Course of human events, it b…CultureHypertext as a Teaching Tool — Brown University Poetry Classroom 1974This short film documents an early attem…AcademiaThe Rule of Capek's Robots: A public lecture, in which the word “robot” is traced,…
Similar:Parallels (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 11) Worf gets technobabbled into a ti… Rewatching ST:TNG After returning…Amusingink: Inkle's open source scripting language for writing interactive narrativeGearing up to teach “Digital Storytellin…CybercultureI just had some fun spotting a possible source of the word "dongle" (the plug-in security …The word “dongle” has long existed as a…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:"The Nightmare of Prince Prezelsky"Leigh, Peter, Carolyn and I had fun reco…AmusingAs coronavirus cases climb, the White House line is consistent: Everything is well in handTraditional journalism aims for neutrali…Current_EventsMy Dad Is…
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:Desert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalI asked my geekling whether she was ready for…