I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:We’re in Denial About the True Cost of a Twitter ImplosionThe public disintegration of a platform …Current_EventsStunning writing in this WaPost reflection on the Trump campaign's journey from a gold esc…I’m stunned by the writing. Here’s just …CultureIs AI making us less intelligent?This…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:Misleading Publisher Email Promises Paid Stipend, Delivers LotteryAn email from a reputable higher educati…AcademiaAre "Keds" still a recognizable kid shoe brand?Are Keds a brand that my college student…DramaBeatrix Potter-pinching and Žižekian swipes: the strange world of book theftsWe caught a gent last Christmas with £40…Books"What…
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 Trouble With Online EducationI’ve taught an online “Video Game Cultur…AcademiaExcessive Copyright Strikes Again in 2016Current US law extends copyright for 70 …BusinessSnazzy officer uniforms from the #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my now-adult ch…AestheticsCommunities of Play: The Social Construction…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Just a handful more of these elegant #steampunk control panels and I can move on to the ne…AestheticsSpot of sunlight seems to be sliding down an escalator. View t…AestheticsCaroll "Big Bird" Spinney was originally to be on NASA's doomed Challenger flight And he was even offered a…
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:Pulitzer Alert:…
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:Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureI'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is really noteworthy. Today the Pre…Current_EventsMy Minecraft-obsessed…
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:'Peter Pan Live' Was Never Intended to Be EnjoyedI didn’t watch the show (our cable-less …AestheticsThe Problem with Quotes on the InternetAmusingOh No, Performers Coming Into AudiencePITTSBURGH—Audience members at 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:Another visit to downtown Pittsburgh with my history-loving son.CultureHow PatrioticAmusing100 Word ChallengeIt is a weekly creative writing challeng…CultureCarolyn choreographed a fight-dance adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.PersonalFake News Remains Top Industry Concern in 2017“In…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:NASA! Mars!! Panorama!!! Video!!!! Audio!!!!!New video from NASA’s Mars 2020 Persever…AwesomeChatGPT answers more than half of software engineering questions incorrectlyThe results showed that out of the 512 q…BusinessIf You’re An English Major You Should Take a Journalism Class–Even If You Think You Hate…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:Infographics: the PowerPoint of the 2010sI used to say that PowerPoint slideshows…CybercultureIn February, 2001, I was blogging about computer nostalgia, Napster, a horror typing game,…In February, 2001, I was blogging about …CybercultureDozens of Plagiarism Incidents Are Reported in Coursera's Free Online Courses”If we really are…
“Bach is not for the weak of mind.” — Miss Renee, my kids’ piano teacher. “I’m in trouble.” — Peter, my son. Similar:Special ed teacher quits: ‘I just cannot justify making students cry anymore’The disorder is in the system which requ…CultureA stranger approached me today.A stranger approached me today. I was a…CultureDear organization from my…
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.…