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:Former student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsShe doesn't have keys or a phone…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:Learn to code? No: Learn a real languageI don’t see learning to code as a substi…CultureIn January 2001, I was blogging about Bill Clinton's #WhiteHouse security deposit, anachro…In January 2001, I was blogging about …AcademiaPoetry Out Loud : Learning RecitationI’m one of the…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:Loved part 2 of Romeo and Juliet @thepublicpgh #pptplaytime (Next week: Tartuffe)CultureThe first ever photograph of light as both a particle and waveThere’s so much I don’t know! When teac…EducationAdvent of Digital Humanities Will Make English Departments Pointless — New RepublicDon’t overreact to the headline,…
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:What would holidays be without Dickens' beloved 'Christmas Carol?'It takes some visits from three scary sp…DramaLocal news is the building block of a national democracy.Yesterday, I asked my students, “How man…BusinessSportsWorks Adventure at the Carnegie Science CenterI confess that I have never…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Volunteering at our local food bankEthicsNo one’s ready for this: Our basic assumptions about photos capturing reality are about to… Everyone who is reading this article…CybercultureDatalore (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 12) Data's bro wants to be with a big crystal tr…In “Datalore,” an encounter with Data’s …CultureRandom…
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:Frazetta's "A…
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:Carolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Ref…Fascinating use of social media. To be c…Current_EventsClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessHow hate and misinformation go…
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:After decades lost, Star Trek’s original Enterprise model may have been foundLong before sci-fi shows created their v…DesignIn Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The…
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:You don’t hate millennials. You hate 21st-century technology.A favorite observation about millennials…CultureI Quit Liking Things On Facebook for Two Weeks.She stopped liking, and started commenti…CybercultureThis winter I changed my weekday alarm tone to…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:A stranger approached me today.A stranger approached me today. I was a…CultureMy 13yo homeschooler had no idea how to open a little milk carton. I had to show her.CultureTesting Facebook ThumbnailWhy does Facebook always use this image …CybercultureThe daughter missed her graduation ceremony…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:TARDIS from today's 3D printing class.AestheticsMemo to faculty: AI is not your friend (opinion)I was approached on LinkedIn with the op…AcademiaYou don’t hate millennials. You hate 21st-century technology.A favorite observation about millennials…CultureTwitter, after 10 years, hasn't been a money-makerRake-thin and bearded, Dorsey radiates a…BusinessTwitter was…