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:She doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash her Lemonheads and Smarties. ht…AmusingTweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:I Regret to Inform You That My Wedding to Captain Von Trapp Has Been CanceledI must confess to being rather blindside…AmusingIt's Friday night in July, and I'm jamming with my fall course preps.The dean sends me an email at 9:07pm. In…AcademiaJournalism academics: mocked…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:My Student Calls Out a Mental Health Stigma in a Biased Headline — But Here's Why We Shou…This morning a journalism student told m…CultureWhat Causes the Smell of New & Old Books?Generally, it is the chemical breakdown …AestheticsWill ChatGPT Kill the Student Essay? Universities Aren’t…
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:Why the King’s Quest demo reignited my love for adventure gamesI would give this King’s Quest reboot a …CultureSTEM Education Is Vital–But Not at the Expense of the HumanitiesPromoting science and technology educati…AcademiaTapdance / jazz music outing with the girl. Tapdance /…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Kitchen utensils for my steampunk villain's hideout. #Blender3D. There’s nothing particularly steampu…AestheticsThe President Versus ‘Fake News,’ AgainBret Stephens of the NYTimes says by acc…CultureFallout Monopoly with the boy. PersonalThe Unbearable Weakness of Trump’s MinionsNote that the URL of this story indicate…AcademiaParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up 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:In November…
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:How hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump …AcademiaShe doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a…
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:Shirley Temple Black, Screen Darling, Dies at 85 Shirley Temple Black, who as a dimpled,…CultureThis image of Mark Zuckerberg says so much about our futureA billionaire superman with a rictus…
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:Jesus Christ SuperstarI have a daughter who does things. Her n…CultureA pie slice from the ring surrounding the ballroom, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I …AestheticsMore delightful #steampunk control panels. These are computationally…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Space Shuttle Challenger (Destroyed 28 Years Ago Today)I was in my final semester of high schoo…EducationThe Hut Where the Internet Began – Atlantic MobileLet’s start at the end point: what you’r…CybercultureAll the Classroom’s a StageSome good observations in this essay. As…AcademiaThe Chronicle of…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:Why Our Brains Make Us Click on ListsThe article-as-numbered-list has several…CultureThe Great Works of SoftwareI realized that each one of these techno…Aesthetics7 Tips for Budding Mobile Journalists“Mobile journalism is … not something yo…CybercultureWhat have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are…