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:I'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is really noteworthy. Today the Pre…Current_EventsYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalCarolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:The Rise of "Synthespians"”Mr. Serkis is the human actor behind th…ArtGIFs, memes and liveblogs: The controversial new language of book reviewingSalon has an interesting essay on multim…AestheticsThe CRAFT of News Writing (Clear, Relevant, Accurate, Fair, Timely)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwEZPWSE…Culturethe history of computer games: from 'pong' to…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:Woah there, online tech site. Let's not set that bar too high, now.I just saw the following clickbait for a…Current_EventsClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessMariah Carey meets William Carlos Williams AmusingNewly acquired technology for teaching writing in the age of AI.…
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:Pinkalicious — "Buzz Off"My daughter plays the Bumblebee in “Buzz…AestheticsBaltimore Residents Urged To Stay Indoors Until Social Progress Naturally Takes Its Course…“As we continue to incrementally evolve …Amusing"This paper is going to read like smooth jazz." AcademiaLiberal Arts Majors Are the Future of…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:Who is the more dramatic — my extroverted tween or my philosophical teen?Stoked from a morning show-choir perform…AmusingLife would be so much better if all the interfaces we encountered looked like #Steampunk c…AestheticsToday's annoying adventures of adulting: fixing the bathroom ceiling fan.Not fun, but done. ModdingDown with Fake…
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:Video-Game Violence…
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 …AcademiaHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels…
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:Me waiting for students to drop by during office hours. AcademiaKirk's manly, sensitive advice to young CharlieIn popular culture, Captain Kirk from th…Culture'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Translates Dickens' Scrooge Fable…
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:Horrifying deepfake tricks employee into giving away $25 millionNo names in this single-source anecdote …BusinessAnnoyed and Bored by Lazy Anachronisms in The Great Gatsby MovieI just watched the recent Great Gatsby m…AestheticsA Few…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Education: Teaching teachers how to teach readingI’m definitely seeing students in my fre…BooksScratch StatsScratch is a kid-friendly programming sa…CybercultureThe Feynman TechniqueTo master a topic, pretend you are teach…DesignTrue Q (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 6) Visiting Intern Exhibits Q-like Power…Rewatching ST:TNG On…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:Woah there, online tech site. Let's not set that bar too high, now.I just saw the following clickbait for a…Current_Events"The face of the last man on Earth." #alquist #rur #robots #capek #virtual #theater Gettin…AestheticsThe Medium is the MoralIt has been more than 40 years since…