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:Yes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesI asked…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:And if my point of view is somewhat misty-eyed…And if my point of view is somewhat mist…AestheticsAdvice to a recent journalism graduate* The best stories are the ones you find…EthicsUnderstanding Shakespeare: "Pick a play. Click a line…"Pick a play. Click a line. Instantly…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:How Not to Hate Shakespeare The problem isn’t Shakespeare—it’s h…CultureAlphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape: pop-up book by Kelli AndersonA fascinating concept. (Thanks for the s…AestheticsThe "Best" E-mail Signature Is Actually the WorstI have no particular opinion about how t…BusinessInternational Studies Association proposes…
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:Close Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and Cultural Context (and a Rage Comic)I’m preparing to teach Shakespeare again…AcademiaEverything is beautiful at the ballet.DanceAnd so it begins.BooksGender and Language — Revisiting Advice I Posted in 1998When I was in college and active in…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:When is Donald Trump kidding? When is he being sarcastic? When is he being serious? Who ge…Earlier today a reporter, following her …Current_EventsBlender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When my kids were small, at bedtime …AestheticsHaving a rough day. But in a span of about 24 hours,…
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:The Wire…
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:She doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash her Lemonheads and Smarties. ht…AmusingJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentHabits for happiness: tips for…
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:Aquiel (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 13) LaForge adopts a murder victim's dog…Rewatching ST:TNG LaForge gets a litt…EmpathyIn Which I Ask a Hard-working Journalism Student to Consider UndeadlinesA student…
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:Liking Everything He Saw on Facebook for 24 Hours Turned Him Into a Marketing MachineI like everything. Or at least I did, fo…BusinessWhen you need to record footsteps on a sidewalk, and the…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s LifeA PR professional should have known bett…BusinessWhy Did Dial-Up Modems Make So Much Noise?Screeeech . . . hisss . . . squaawk. The…CybercultureFirst page of a student’s Texture project. (This made me laugh.) This clever…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:I accidentally started a Wikipedia hoaxHoaxes roam the Information Superhighway…BooksI’ve been teaching with this handout for over 25 years, updating it regularly. I just remo…I first started teaching with this hando…AcademiaDeath of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooksApple has quietly launched a catalo…CybercultureDownloading Great…