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:10 Rules of Internet – Anil DashA very useful, concise summary of web-en…BusinessHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump …AcademiaCarolyn Gombell Is Not a…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:What Part of “No, Totally” Don’t You Understand?English continues to evolve. I noticed t…CultureIn January 2000, I was blogging about dancing paperclips, the transience of literary judge… In January 2000, I was blogging abou…BooksWhat does a professor do, other than lecture for a…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?Not a day goes by without The Girl remin…Books15 more sites that forbid you from linking to them » Malcolm ColesSome people don’t seem to get it. Here,…CybercultureBill Murray Admits A Painting Saved His LifeDuring a February press conference…
A thoughtful reflection on religion in Star Trek. While Humans aren’t depicted as participating in any form of organized religion (there is a reference to a Christmas party here, a nod to monotheism there), the series also includes a distrust of science and technology, regularly depicting mad scientists, societies over-dependent on technology, etc.) that insists…
If you’re legally present on a public street or sidewalk, you can legally photograph anything in plain view. (This includes children and crime victims… but just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s always a good idea.) If law enforcement engages you, ask whether you are free to go; if so, then move out of the…
Standardized testing rewards standardized thinking, while excluding creativity, resilience & other “soft” skills. I have started gong out of my way to remind students in my classes that I am not comparing their papers to a “correct answer” in the back of my book — I want them to learn a habit of mind that…
It’s a good day when one’s nerdiness is an asset to a colleague. Similar:The dangers of 'character education' in universitiesAs the authors depressingly note, “the U…AcademiaRereading “Writing to Learn”Rereading “Writing to Learn,” William Zi…AcademiaThe Inner Light (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 25) When a probe-zapped Picard …Rewatching ST:TNG When a space probe …CultureSetonian Photo…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:A pallet of cabinet fronts and structural elements to flesh out #neovictorian #steampunk i…PersonalEducators approve national campaign to halt high stakes, “toxic tests”Not a news item, but an announcement fro…CultureWe love us some Sherlock any way we can get it.PersonalDear daughter, let Miley Cyrus be a lesson to…
Keep a local backup of anything important you’ve entrusted to online services. There’s no guarantee that, years from now, those services will honor the terms you agreed to. Backed by new investors, including singer Justin Timberlake, Myspace (after dropping the capital ‘S’) has been rebranded as a music-streaming service, with a new sleek interface, and…
Penn and Teller are involved with this story. Worth a read. The only record of the game’s existence was a handful of review copies that had been sent out to journalists in the weeks before the publisher went bust, in 1995. The game remained a curious rumor until September, 2005, when Frank Cifaldi, a freelance…
Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices. #ethics #books The Federal lawsuit claimed that Apple, led by then-CEO Steve Jobs and senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, conspired with HarperCollins, Hatchett, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster to drive e-book prices up from the $9.99 price point Amazon had established. –readwrite.com Similar:CDC: Vaccinated…
RT @spj_tweets: How TV could suffer the fate of newspapers: @alanmutter shares the second installment of his two-part blog – http://t.co/l… Similar:My Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesShe doesn't have keys or…
RT @DepressedDarth: Dear J.J. Abrams, If the new Star Wars is bad, you will forever be known as Jar Jar Abrams. Sincerely, Star Wars fans Similar:The Search, Part 2 (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 2) The Federation makes a ri… Rewatching ST:DS9 After the recap…MediaTexas lawyer trapped by cat filter on Zoom call, informs…
I really like MailChimp’s “Social” plugin, which not only publishes a WordPress blog entry to Twitter and Facebook, but also collects responses from Twitter and Facebook users and collects them as WordPress comments. Today I installed a different plugin, Twitter Tools, which is really just a single tool — it lets you create a WordPress…
Habits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of life. At bedtime, in order to avoid a nightly litany of complaints, I ask my glass-is-half-empty-and-I-hate-the-pirate-glass-and-there’s-a-bug-in-it tween to list three good things, two neutral things, and one sad thing about her day. Sometimes if she needs to share more than one sad thing, I…
While researching my obligations for #juryduty Thursday, I came across this “Juror’s Creed.” The gender-specific reference to men, the instruction to reflect upon the virtues of democracy, and the instruction to respect the judge’s education all hint at a historical context for the creed. Institutions never put their creeds into writing unless they feel those…
Spent a productive work day doing nothing but optimizing my blog. Added a very nice plugin for displaying thumbnails of related posts. Similar:Facebook’s News Feed: Often Changed, Never GreatI’ve never liked Instant Articles — Fac…BusinessGo Forth and Conquer, but Postpone the Selfie“We have about 850 graduates, and we hav…AcademiaThe Best of Both Worlds, Part 2…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Twine: the program that’s democratised the video gaming worldTwine games look and feel profoundly dif…CybercultureWhy liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineeringWe learned that though a degree made a b…AcademiaFeeling Like an Impostor at 49I reminded my Shakespeare students that…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:The YouTubers who blew the whistle on an anti-vax plotWhile rational minds worry about the imp…Current_EventsA.I. 'Completes' Keith Haring's Intentionally Unfinished Painting After learning of his AIDS diagnosis…AestheticsStudents Are Using ChatGPT to Write Their Personal Essays Now: AI can replicate the shape …Students say they…