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:Loved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhi…TweetsI'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is really noteworthy. Today the Pre…Current_EventsTweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:Do you really keep a diary?ALGERNON Do you really keep a diary? I’d…AmusingOverwhelmed? Start a new to-do list with "1) Breathe; 2) Make 'to-do' list" Felt momentarily overwhelmed by the da…CultureCrying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship EverI’ve felt a bit…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:How To Get Students To Integrate QuotationsIt’s comforting to know that I’m not alo…AcademiaWhat’s Lost as Handwriting FadesWhen I used a Windows XP Tablet computer…CultureTraces of ScribesBook historian Irene O’Daly notes that t…AcademiaChildren struggle to hold pencils due to too much tech, doctors sayWhen I…
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:On UVa rape story: Rolling Stone editors "regret the decision to not contact the alleged a…Rolling Stone, how about you apologize b…AcademiaLego-Building Tween Refers to "The Hobbit" TextMy daughter, having just received a hand…AestheticsStill shot from a flyover video that's been taking…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:The only snow alert you'll ever need.AmusingThe Girl at rehearsal (where else?).PersonalMy son just handed me my serving of noodles in the butter substitute container. Recycling.AmusingScreening of "Indentured" (short film the girl and I filmed in January)Personal‘This is no longer a debate’: Florida sheriff bans deputies, visitors from…
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:Why teens…
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 @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhi…TweetsTweet: Came around the corner and saw…
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:The Complete Deaths: all of the Bard's 74 scripted deaths in one new play.Over the past four centuries, the brutal…AmusingProfessor teaches class of 300 students from his phone while trapped…
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:I just thought of a time before you were born when I should have been kind, but I can't re… Sometimes when I’m driving along los…AcademiaPage Weight MattersUnexpected consequences, when a develope…CybercultureI don't…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Office Hours Are ObsoleteI have nothing against holding office ho…AcademiaWordPress duplicate images driving me crazy I’m using the Atahualpa Theme with WPT…HomeGIFs, memes and liveblogs: The controversial new language of book reviewingSalon has an interesting essay on multim…AestheticsThe Printed Word in Peril: The…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:I sometimes snark at the @Turnitin interface, but…I sometimes snark at the @Turnitin inter…CybercultureGoogle Pledges $300 Million to Clean Up False NewsThis is a welcome step, but we cannot tr…CultureHow the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive The ink used in a fountain pen, the …CultureNASA |…