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:Carolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Ref…Fascinating use of social media. To be c…Current_EventsJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentRT @PhilKomarny:…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:Comments on: A vane Osama bin Laden shown in new videos – CBS News Comments on: A vane Osama bin Laden …AmusingI Regret to Inform You That My Wedding to Captain Von Trapp Has Been CanceledI must confess to being rather blindside…AmusingThe Novel…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammarThe construction is more versatile than …AmusingIt's such a privilege to introduce these young people to Shakespeare's body of work.After starting my 200-level “Shakespeare…AcademiaIndustriousness. Self-improvement. Thrift. And orange slime. The girl amusing herself on our 70m …AestheticsFDR and Grilled…
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:I just discovered what will grind up a significant portion of my free time over the break.So Khan Academy now has a grammar unit. …PersonalAmong today’s major professional accomplishments: installing this hook. #springbreakMy office door feels more complete now. …AcademiaFrozen (Greensburg Civic…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Classroom Vignette: MLA StyleStudent (shouldering backpack and headin…AcademiaRT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsNow that I have polished so many details, I'm working on more selective lighting. #steampu… AestheticsWhen You've Already Got a Major, But You Love Books (Seton…
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 A.V.…
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:Proto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureOverheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaFormer student: "I…
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:Alas for You (Godspell, Stage Right)Three weeks ago tonight, I got an email …DramaMore #blender3d #steampunk control panel details. #blender3dartAestheticsPeter vs. the PenguinsFor the past hour, Peter (who is not…
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:Google overtakes Apple in the US classroom Google in US schools, with Chromebook …AcademiaLovely set for @prime_stage Frankenstein. The daughter joined this cast less than a week a…PersonalLooking forward to what looks like…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Fact check: Trump lies about CNN at Mississippi rallyI tell my journalism students they won’t…Current_EventsThe neglected history of videogames for the blindWhat kind of a “videogame” has no video?…CybercultureWhen backwards newbie poets writeWhen backwards newbie poets write Up rh…Aesthetics80 Days: "1872, with a…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:Twine: the program that’s democratised the video gaming worldTwine games look and feel profoundly dif…CybercultureThe AI Mirror Test: Why Even the Smartest People Keep Falling ShortWhat is important to remember is that ch…CultureNASA's Perseverance lander brought some Easter eggs with it to MarsIt’s a bit…