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:Newspaper For Sale: The Growing Threat of News Deserts in Western PennsylvaniaAs circulation has declined, local newsp…Business#Blender3D practice: #Steampunk control panel #trimsheethttps://youtu.be/4j7qAzaDg3w …AestheticsA ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ Lesson for…
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:Parallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …Humanities10 Rules of Internet – Anil DashA very useful, concise summary of…
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:Self-Regulation: American Schools Are Failing Nonconformist KidsFor a while, we were part of a homeschoo…Culture"If It's Not Baroque, Don't Fix It" Cogsworth Broadway Supercuthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx6t-pef…AmusingTrump and JFK:…
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:FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpNContestants had to stand with their hand…Amusing“Your resume is not about you:” Insights from a journalism hiring manager on how to succee…Your resume is…
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:Any pasta can become a pasta salad when the office microwave stops working!CultureA trend story about millennials, by The New York Times“When it comes down to it, life is reall…AmusingSeton Hill University advertises for “Social & Digital Content Manager”The Social & Digital Content Manager…AcademiaThis is…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:Random gauge design, for background details in a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3d #b… AestheticsI'm really enjoying seeing how my students are responding to Hamlet.As part of a class assignment, one stude…AcademiaFired for Making a Game: The Inside Story of I Get This Call Every DayHe…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:I can probably remove that link to LycosOn a web page that I posted in Nov 2000 …BusinessWriting That Demonstrates Thinking Ability While reflecting on my semester for …HomeWhen a Blogger Shares a Too-good-to-be-true Meme Featuring Hilarious Handwritten Notes fro…Or something like that.HomeSHU Commemoration of September…
Similar:The Vengeance Factor (ST:TNG Rewatch Season Three, Episode 9) Sovereign's Chef Beguiles Ri…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….PopCultTo all these tools I've loved before…While cleaning out my desk at home I add…AestheticsIn Defense of Liking ThingsIt used to bother me that people got all…CultureThe Perfect Mate (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 21) Picard fails to…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:“Waiting for Life” (Once on This Island)https://youtu.be/NeoVD3prQWYPersonalDogmeat and I may yet win this game. Yes, this was the decisive moment. I…GamesAnd you thought your last teleconference was rough!PersonalAnthony Weiner, Reality Star of…
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:And the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsDesert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksParallel Structure vs. Faulty…