I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:The reluctant wisdom of a science major in my freshman writing class.”There’s nothing left to say,” said a sc…AcademiaStudents say "math class is stupid and boring," and they are right. –Mathematician Paul L…I am working on some conference papers t…CultureSerious reading takes a hit…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:Employers Will Hire You For: 1) Leadership; 2) Teamwork; 3) Writing; 4) Problem-solving 5)…What do employers say they are looking f…BusinessMy Review of the Charlottesville Tryout of "A Few Good Men" 30 Years AgoA librarian at the University of Virgini…CultureBreaking up with your favorite racist…
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:Fancy a game of whist with your nemesis? The prospect of ruin adds piquancy to the pleasur…PersonalDrinking milk and using the #WaybackMachine to fix broken links in a 10-year-old blog post…PersonalPOV: You are coding the automatic doors on your fantasy neovictorian cruiser…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Still in her make-up from her scene as Marley's ghost, with script in hand standing i…PersonalI'm happy with today's #steampunk control panel. To fill out the master plan I'm constrain…One of many steampunk control panels I’v…AestheticsI’m fairly satisfied with this version of a medieval building trimsheet. (Source photo…
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:Undergrad Danielle…
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:Yes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalI asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether she was rea…AmusingMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER…
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:Predatory Journals Hit By 'Star Wars' StingI’ve been contacted by editors who would…AcademiaFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few…
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:Newly acquired technology for teaching writing in the age of AI. (Not for high stakes test…AcademiaMy big brother and my son facing off in chess. I am totally outclassed here.PersonalSHU Community Lines Up…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth PreservingMany are wailing that this technology sp…AcademiaFacebook's director of media tries to appease news industryFacebook’s Patrick Walker assured a room…BusinessWhen the Reporter Becomes Part of the Story (Aggressive Reporter Covering Pittsburgh Zoo D…Students who are new to journalism…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent ItProfessional disinformation isn’t spread…CultureThis Is Not a Book: Thomas Jefferson & Apple's App StoreHumanities professors from the Universit…AcademiaThirty Years Ago, the Challenger Crew Plunged Alive and Aware to Their DeathsThe Challenger made it through the…
“Bach is not for the weak of mind.” — Miss Renee, my kids’ piano teacher. “I’m in trouble.” — Peter, my son. Similar:What employers really want? Workers they don’t have to trainI do teach a number of very practical co…AcademiaDeath of NFL inevitable as middle class abandons the gameLike vegan pizzas and secular Christmas …BusinessCombined,…
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.…