These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar: The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley Because what he never managed to grok …BusinessClassroom Vignette: MLA StyleStudent (shouldering backpack and headin…AcademiaWilliam Zinsser: What Is Good Writing? (Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity.)Most of the students in my “News Writing…CultureAI-generated essays are nothing to…
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:Star Trek: "Wink Of An Eye"/"The Empath"Amusing, if cynical, reaction to some of…AmusingSmall Changes in Teaching: The Last 5 Minutes of ClassI just ordered the book Lang mentions in…AcademiaEverything is beautiful at the ballet.DanceStar Trek Beyond was an enjoyable nerdy family outing.PersonalThe Out-of-Control…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:The daughter looks stunning in pink. AestheticsAre we spreading fake news about fake news?In a new research paper that Poynter say…CultureI really enjoyed powering through Wilson’s Century Cycle during winter term.AwesomeAnother #neovictorian control panel for a personal #steampunk project. #design #aesthetics…AestheticsWhat blogging wasI’ve maintained this blog since the…
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 Rise…
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:RT @PhilKomarny: A floppy disc… In #context htt…RT @PhilKomarny: A floppy disc… In #co…TweetsHabits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of lifeHabits for happiness: tips for looking o…PersonalCarolyn Gombell Is Not…
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:No focus, no fights, and a bad back – 16 ways technology has ruined my lifeInsightful, funny list. (This guy is a g…AmusingExplore Geotagged Wikipedia Pages as a Text Adventure…
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:Practice, practice, practice. Making many things in #Blender3D. Arranging them to make a t… AestheticsThe secret police: Cops built a shadowy surveillance machine in Minnesota after George Flo…Many of the same people…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:This history of video game graphics is a walk down memory laneBlogging this so I can assign it to my “…AcademiaThe neglected history of videogames for the blindWhat kind of a “videogame” has no video?…CybercultureAn Excerpt from Mechanisms [2]: 'Professor RAMAC'Among the attractions…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:In November 2001 I was blogging aboutIn November 2001, I was blogging about …AmusingDon't hide your online self when applying for college or careerGreat advice. [I]t is common to hear st…AcademiaHumans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’ How is AI going to change…
“Bach is not for the weak of mind.” — Miss Renee, my kids’ piano teacher. “I’m in trouble.” — Peter, my son. Similar:Looking forward to more live local theater. (Support the arts!)PersonalA vacation minibar story from 20 years ago.PersonalAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blender3dartAestheticsThe girl will be dancing as the Gold…
While I am uncomfortable with the whole “classroom as marketplace” metaphor, since it’s pretty much gamifying without the fun, I am nonetheless interested in this strategy for encouraging students to collaborate by having them attach a value to the artifacts they present to the class for sharing.. We shop for everything from apps to ideas.…
The researchers found that each singer’s heartbeat was linked to the song’s melody – i.e. the speed and structure of the music. They also found that when the choir sang together, their heart rates tended to increase and decrease at similar times. “As soon as the singing begins, (the hearts) start following each other,” Vickhoff…