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…TweetsIn Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureI'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is…
I just touched up a handout on Parallel Structure vs Faulty Parallelism. Similar:Puns really matter to us over here in English.I swore I would wield my powers only for…AcademiaIn April, 2001 I was blogging about interactive fiction, Roget's Thesaurus, John Lennon, H… A student newspaper article about in…BooksIn May, 2000, I was blogging about the…
These comic panels cover the issue well. (Pennington Publishing) Similar:When the Reporter Becomes Part of the Story (Aggressive Reporter Covering Pittsburgh Zoo D…Students who are new to journalism often…AcademiaWoah there, online tech site. Let's not set that bar too high, now.I just saw the following clickbait for a…Current_EventsA former student contacted me to share…
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:Humanities and STEM Can and Should Get Along BetterIn my lit and writing classes, I regular…AcademiaWhere There's a Whip, There's a WayThe girl was singing lyrics she learned …AmusingWhy Can't Millennials Find Jobs?Half of hiring managers say wearing atti…Business“Oh, that I were…
I’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-obligated-for-jury-duty citizen. Similar:My second greenscreen test.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d-LPwKQ…CybercultureSiblings gotta sib.PersonalFall 2025 Grades Submitted!PersonalLast day filming for “The First Night of Summer”PersonalStar Trek: "Wink Of An Eye"/"The Empath"Amusing, if cynical, reaction to some of…AmusingOn the way to the theater for the show! Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd.Personal
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:TSA Agent…
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:Maybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalFormer student: "I remember sometimes…
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:Birthright, Part 2 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 17) Worf sows disorder in a …Rewatching ST:TNG L’Kor tells Worf th…EthicsBy Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 15)…
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 baked pools of light into the wallpaper, so I can quickly suggest background lighting, s…AestheticsWendy's Bests Internet Troll, Then Unwittingly Posts Completely Unrelated, Obscure Racist …I fixed the clickbaity title for you.…
RT @mykidcancode: Managing Your Preschooler’s Fascination with Apps – bit.ly/lv1ZyR #parenting #technology Similar:Writing, Coding and Education: Why They MatterBack in my grad school days, I was calle…AcademiaGoogling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.When I ask my students to use the librar…AcademiaHealing the WebThe lessons I learned in just over an ho…BusinessIn March…
Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in my trash folder! Similar:Why your brain’s so bad at letting go of negative comments Negative comments engage avoidance…CybercultureFeeling a bit puzzled by the "Twitter Tools" pluginI really like MailChimp’s “Social” plugi…Social_SoftwareCanadian teen's short film captures Spring 2020Not graphic, but emotionally powerful. …CultureWhat's a namber? (archived)Update, December 2024: Sadly,…