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:When you need to record footsteps on a sidewalk, and the carpeted studio has a brick wall.AmusingThe Way of the Warrior #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 1) Worf…
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 vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump …AcademiaIt's been nice knowing you,…
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:Pick Up Your Smartphone Less Often. You Might Think BetterResearch suggests we neeed to be bored s…CultureA Fistful of Datas (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode…
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:On the Hatred of LiteratureGoing back to Plato—perhaps the first ha…AcademiaTurnitin's slick new iPad app almost erases years of web-based GradeMark traumaI have in the past griped on Twitter and…AcademiaThank you, anonymous donor…
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:Shakaar #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 3, Episode 20) Winn asks Kira to reclaim macguffins… Rewatching ST:DS9 After losing to O…EmpathyWanted in College Graduates: Tolerance for Ambiguity”What answer do you want?” “Just tell…AcademiaBlender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When my kids were small, at bedtime…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:The Rise of "Synthespians"”Mr. Serkis is the human actor behind th…ArtIf Wishes Were Horses (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 16) Hallucinations become…Rewatching ST:DS9 Quark tries to inte…CultureToday’s adulting was brought to you by a failed motor vehicle inspection. #notacarguy #win…The car shop wanted to…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:Hypertext as a Teaching Tool — Brown University Poetry Classroom 1974This short film documents an early attem…AcademiaEmail Tips: Top 10 Strategies for Writing Effective EmailAfter reading a clickbaity Bloomberg art…HomeA Revolutionary Approach to Treating PTSDInhabiting an improvised play designed t…HomeVerizon Forced Me to Remove Parentheses, Quotation…
Similar:Business as Usual #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 18) Quark accepts a lucrative …Rewatching ST:DS9 Playing tongo at the …BusinessZork: The Great Underground EmpireA blogger has started chronicling a jour…CybercultureReport to the bridge so the captain can assess your virtual upholstery skills. #blender3d …AestheticsGoogle 1407Philipp Lenssen and I had a bit of fun i…AestheticsWhy…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:Writing a Cutline (Caption) for the News: Three examples of an often overlooked journalism…In journalism, the “cutline” is the text…AestheticsOpinion | Fake News Comes to AcademiaThe three academics call themselves “lef…AcademiaAnd to…
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:Parallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:The Nagus (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 11) Quark is named the financial lead…Rewatching ST:DS9 In an episode focus…CultureTake my feedback if you want to pass.I won’t be so assertive in the first wee…AcademiaRhinoceros in Love (World Drama — China, 1999)The blurb…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:This Is How My Composition & Culture Class Preps an Oral PresentationInstead of delivering a formal speech fo…AcademiaMerchant of Venice Part 2 live, now! #PPTPlaytimeDramaPublic, Private, Political: Social Theories and Blogging PracticesPublic, Private, Political: Social Theor…AcademiaCredible case that a lost Shakespeare sonnet has been identified…