From Profhacker: If you’ve ever wanted to do sophisticated text analysis on your smartphone, you’re in luck. The University College of London Center for the Digital Humanities team made up of Melissa Terras (@melissaterras), Steven Gray (@frogo) and Rudolf Amman (@rkamman) has just released Textal, a free smartphone app currently available only on iOS that…
Similar:Bogus hit-and-run story about Vice President Kamala Harris created by Russian troll farm, …A healthy respect for the free press and…Current_EventsSet Phasers to Teach!Fans of Star Trek have thus already been…AcademiaAn open letter to Trump from the US press corpsThis is the message I’ve been waiting fo…CultureHappily masked in center row C. (The daughter is dance captain.)DramaGambit…
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:The Language of Gender ViolenceOppressors deny their own agency and deh…CulturePoetry Stimulates the Brain's Reward-Anticipation Arousal Near Ends of StanzasI fixed the NY Mag’s clickbaity title, “…AestheticsMicrosoft “lobotomized” AI-powered…
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:Desert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksJudge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksTweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a…
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:Where No One Has Gone Before (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 5) Wes's warp-drive guru help…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CultureProud of My JournosI saw several…
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:Boston marathon bombing: All the mistakes journalists make during a crisis like the Boston… First, do not pass on speculatio…Current_EventsPrincipal fires security guards to hire art teachers — and transforms elementary schoolThe school…
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:Grandpa Joe's Candy Store.Sugar rush at Grandpa Joe’s Candy Store….AestheticsThe Impact of Google on Our MemorySo what is it that makes us memorize les…CultureHeart of Stone (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 14) Odo tries to keep Kira's spi…Rewatching ST:DS9 In a runabout, Kira…CultureWhat about…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:Why I disagreed with my students who said, "That was easy!" “That was easy!” Today th…AcademiaA quick Sunday visit to #fortligonier with my history-loving son.A quick Sunday visit to #fortligonier wi…CultureThe Minecraft GenerationIt’s a world of trial and error and cons…AestheticsVersu's Epilogue: How an…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:Annie Sullivan on teaching: Helen Keller, rendered blind and dea…CultureMemories of Toronto Yonge Street EncountersI arrived in Toronto in 1992 as a 22yo g…CultureI can probably remove that link to LycosOn a web page that I posted in Nov 2000 …BusinessTolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern…
Similar:Ex-Pope Benedict says the Selfish Gene is science fiction. He's half rightThe Selfish Gene is a brilliant phrase. …AcademiaAllergic to Grammar ErrorsSource: Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm…AmusingBoston Herald Guild Members Boycotting Twitter After Reporter SuspendedMembers of the Herald’s editorial guild …Current_Events15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look SillyBeautiful synergy of word and image. Pro…AestheticsThe Homecoming (#StarTrek #DS9…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:Gil Gerard (1943-2025) I built a model of the two-pronged Sta…CultureWhy our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreamingNeil Gaiman tells us why books matter:Wh…BooksHappy Easter 2024PersonalFinished the girl's 10th grade homeschool…