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:James Comey: Trump won’t be removed. But we’ll be fine.Here’s an editorial by someone who feels…CultureKafka Meets Charlie BrownThis year marks the 100th anniversary of…AmusingExodus From an Elsevier Neuroscience JournalOne of the world’s largest scientific pu…Academia"Syllabus Day": The Absolute Worst Way to Start the SemesterI’d rather blog about prepping my fall c…AcademiaNotes on watching "Aliens"…
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:Emergence (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 23) Enterprise-D subsystems exhibit e… Rewatching ST:TNG When I first re…PopCultAnecdotal evidence reliable? One man says “yes”.AcademiaThe Period, Our Simplest Punctuation Mark,…
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:Hello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureParallel structure in writing:…
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 are Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, etc. in your "American Literature" syllabus?The following comment appeared recently …AcademiaThe Internet Is RottingI do what I can. It’s disheartening…
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:What is Technical Writing?I noticed an uptick in traffic to an old…AestheticsAttribution, Editorializing and DefamationIn the Nightly Noodle Monthly, former No…Current_EventsThe Value of Truth: We are living through an epistemological crisis. In the jargon of academia,…
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:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureSummer Theater Camp Photos: "Patrice" in "13" My 11yo performed the part of “Patrice…Current_EventsFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks…
Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:Tell-all crime reporting is a peculiarly American practice. Now U.S. news outlets are reth…Journalists should balance the public’s …CultureVan Gogh Immersive Experience AestheticsStudents say they prefer lectures, but "active learning" is more effectiveA recent study measured differences in s…AcademiaParent: "Why don't you use one of…
Testing a tool to automate connections between iOS apps. Similar:Facebook, really? More people liked the picture in my post than saw the post that includes…I don’t pretend to understand. HomeWriting That Demonstrates Thinking Ability While reflecting on my semester for …HomeComputers and Writing Conference 2013Where a nerd can be a nerd. (Thanks f…HomeA New Talent…
Similar:Today’s #blender3d modeling, inspired by a satellite photo courtesy of Google Maps. (I’m n…Today’s #blender3d modeling, inspired by…Designxkcd: Types of Editorsxkcd: Types of Editors.AmusingCode? Not So MuchI teach my journalism students to write …ArtWhy We Dug AtariGame collectors have their story, too. F…CybercultureI actually don't mind Canvas — it just happens to be the course…
Submitted revisions of 6 video tutorial scripts & drafted 5 more. Also, scored 3 boxes of leftover reception cupcakes and 1 of brownies. Similar:Faculty assembling in launch tube beneath Salvitti Gym. #classof2017 @setonhilluniversityPersonalAgain with the @shu.pippinPersonalThe girl as the Spanish Soloist in @laurelballettheater & @westmorelandsymphony The Nutcra…AestheticsSocrates envisaged a time when we would forget how…