Rookie News Anchor — Fired Instantly for Dropping ‘F***ing S***’ On the Air

Yes, it is nerve-wracking to speak live on the air, but… wow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF6OySsPpko   Similar:Microsoft lays off journalists to replace them with AIMicrosoft is laying off dozens of journa…BusinessCanada's Globe and Mail Uses Expandable Inline Meta-articles to Explain Its CoverageJournalism matters. Educated citizens wh…CybercultureThe Digital-Humanities BustDinosaurs evolved into birds. Not all of…AcademiaWhat blogging wasI’ve maintained…

Grading the MOOC University

The MOOC classrooms are growing at Big Bang rates: more than five million students worldwide have registered for classes in topics ranging from physics to history to aboriginal worldviews. It creates a strange paradox: these professors are simultaneously the most and least accessible teachers in history. —Grading the MOOC University – NYTimes.com. Similar:Practicing with materials…

Huge Collection of Free CC-Licensed Textbooks (2012)

2012 Book Archive. Business, humanities, writing, science. Similar:An Unexpecting MinorityTruthfully, I expected my new department…AcademiaSpring 2023 Grades: Submitted! (I only had 3 last-minute submissions to mark today.)AcademiaEx-Pope Benedict says the Selfish Gene is science fiction. He's half rightThe Selfish Gene is a brilliant phrase. …AcademiaThe girl will be performing as the Dew Drop Fairy in…

Police, citizens and technology factor into Boston bombing probe

In addition to being almost universally wrong, the theories developed via social media complicated the official investigation, according to law enforcement officials. Those officials said Saturday that the decision on Thursday to release photos of the two men in baseball caps was meant in part to limit the damage being done to people who were…

Boston bombings: Social media spirals out of control

A thoughtful analysis. Problem-solvers in the Information Age must train themselves to ignore floods of true-but-trivial and unreliable-but-accessible information. I see this all the time with students who Facebook their way through my class presentations on the function of scholarly peer review, but then submit pages from content farms in their term paper drafts. According…

Higgs Boson Video

Great video about subatomic particles, from Piled Higher and Deeper. Similar:ALL ABOUT 'ARCHIE' – Jason Robert BrownA few years ago, my daughter got to perf…CultureShare a Coke with "Pepsi"AestheticsWhat It Means If You're A 'Paragraph Texter'A very fluffy article that does a good j…CultureSharing a root beer float with your dad doesn't fix everything that's wrong…

little drops — Why Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” Video Makes Me Uncomfortable… and Kind of Makes Me Angry

Very insightful…. A reminder that even the much-praised Dove “we are exposing their advertising techniques” campaigns are just that — campaigns, designed to sell a product. (The parent company of Dove also owns Axe, which is blatant in its use of demeaning sexual stereotypes.) Brave, strong, smart? Not enough. You have to be beautiful. And…

FBI: ‘Exercise Caution and Attempt to Verify Information Through Appropriate Official Channels Before Reporting’

The FBI reminds journalists about a few things they should have learned in News Reporting 101. After multiple media outlets (especially CNN) wrongly reported that an arrest had been made in Boston, the FBI is urging media to “exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.” “Contrary to widespread reporting,…

Boston marathon bombing: All the mistakes journalists make during a crisis like the Boston attacks.

First, do not pass on speculation. For much of the day, the New York Post was sharing unconfirmed reports, which were later proven erroneous, that 12 people had been killed in the attack. I actually retweeted BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski, one of the smartest and most conscientious journalists on Twitter, and repeated this tidbit on the official Slate account. In hindsight,…

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens: Scientific American

As digital texts and technologies become more prevalent, we gain new and more mobile ways of reading—but are we still reading as attentively and thoroughly? How do our brains respond differently to onscreen text than to words on paper? Should we be worried about dividing our attention between pixels and ink or is the validity…

Richard Scarry unfinished manuscript to be published

Some of my happiest memories of fatherhood include introducing my kids to the Richard Scarry books. Featuring a huge anthropomorphised cast, with recurring characters such as Sergeant Murphy, traffic hound and pursuer of miscreants, and solid, cheerful, lederhosen-wearing Huckle Cat, Scarry’s tales of mishap, derring-do, industry and shopping always feel deeply, richly safe. Some aspects…

What about Socialization?

Sometimes, I worry that by homeschooling my kids, I’m depriving them of the opportunities to gain confidence, face challenges, and develop social skills. Just kidding. Here’s what my kids did last weekend. Similar:Writing, Coding and Education: Why They MatterBack in my grad school days, I was calle…AcademiaWhat kids do when Dad won't hand over the…

A routine day in the life of a digital humanist

The Day of Digital Humanities always sneaks up on me. The blogstream has been pretty routine. Similar:Liberal arts college professor assaults alt-right group memberCarefully choosing language that fits yo…AcademiaPope calls Argentine kiosk owner to cancel paper deliveryThis is a very cute story, further illus…AmusingHow Common Core Testing Damaged High School English ClassesHelping my students understand…

New Test for Computers – Grading Essays at College Level

Imagine writing an essay for a college, and, instead of sparking personal feedback from an expert who spends five or ten minutes per page writing personalized reactions and tips for improvement, your work was never actually read by a human being who could recognize, appreciate, and encourage your accomplishments. Imagine that your essay was instead…