Have I mentioned lately that I have some really awesome students? Here’s a narrated screencast, presenting a progress report on a term project that involves programming in Inform 7 to create a text-adventure game designed to teach student journalists how to cover a campus event. This is what a 21st-century English major can do, given…
I’ll have to look into this. Popcorn Maker. https://popcorn.webmaker.org Similar:Twittering The MachineI’ve never been a phone guy. My vo…AcademiaThe Amazon Mystery: What America's Strangest Tech Company Is Really Up ToSeriously: What is Amazon? A retail comp…BusinessThe daughter is doing another thing, this time in Galway, Ireland. AestheticsStories from the Tall Tales Club – Episode 1…
It’s a prototypical Silicon Valley ethos, with one exception: The Khan Academy, which features 3,400 short instructional videos along with interactive quizzes and tools for teachers to chart student progress, is a nonprofit, boasting a mission of “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” There is no employee equity; there will be no IPO;…
Set phasers to “Squeee!” ThinkGeek. Similar:Babylon 5 redefined TV science fiction, so why isn’t it better known?The article doesn’t actually answer the …Culturexkcd: Headlines It: nailed. xkcd: Headlines.AmusingOregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its pathRawitsch, a lanky, bespectacled 21-year-…CultureThe Ongoing Obsession with Shakespeare’s True IdentityI’ve never been all too keen on Shakespe…AcademiaDance of "the awkward…
On the mobile version of my WordPress website, I made the subtlest stylesheet tweaks — adjusting the date text a few pixels to the right to align with the title text, resizing the comment box so that it fits on the screen, adjusting the whitespace ever so slightly. Most of the world will never notice…
Whether you are trying to raise money for your business or just want to perfect your business strategy, a solid elevator pitch is an essential tool for achieving your goals. An elevator pitch can be delivered either verbally, ideally in 60 seconds or less, or as a one-page overview of your business. Think of the…
I don’t text message much. As my kids (age 10 and 14) have become more socially active, and as I find myself volunteering and mentoring for their activities and coordinating with the parents of their peers, I find myself texting more. But it’s not my preferred medium. In countries around the world, text-message traffic has…
Facebook. Similar:If You Ever Find a Link to ThoughtCatalog, I'm Begging You Not to Click It Here’s a thought… nothing you can …BusinessOh No, Performers Coming Into AudiencePITTSBURGH—Audience members at the Bened…Amusing"The face of the last man on Earth." #alquist #rur #robots #capek #virtual #theater Gettin…AestheticsDon't Automatically Blame the Reporter for a Headline ErrorWriters make mistakes.…
She guarded her late husband’s literary legacy following his death in 1965. Valerie Eliot also allowed Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats to be based on TS Eliot’s whimsical verses, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The stage show became a global hit that brought in huge sums for the Eliot estate, and enabled her to…
One of the charges of the journalist is to make the important interesting. Advertisers and celebrities are already so good at packaging what is fundamentally trivial that journalists have to work very hard to compete. Infographics are a useful tool for the news industry, but like all tools, they require skill. Similar:More split-screen actinghttp://youtu.be/EGgeZWskEs8DesignThe Rule…
I’m talking about you, Havingsaidthat. You have wriggled your way into the mouths of every Letterman, every shiny-tied anchorman, every political pundit who can now read one poll every way but sideways, every Fox News body language “expert,” and every reality talent show judge. Even the humble weathermen and subway station apocalypto (2013 end of…
I enjoyed using clips of Renata with the little girls in her life, to contextualize her role as the child-hating Miss Hannigan. Showing the kids singing “Happy Birthday” not one but three times amplifies her comments about patience and growing up. This video was the most fun to edit. Similar:iMovie Glitch: Unplug Removable Media before…
Businesses — as well as groups like nonprofits and celebrities like Takei — join the social network by creating pages, and they speak to customers and fans by posting to those pages, which users may follow by clicking “like.” A typical page post is only shown to around 15 percent of the people who follow…
She’s 10 now, but here is her response to seeing The Tempest at Seton Hill University last year. Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.AestheticsMy more or less daily 10cm section of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsControversial Content in YA Literature: A College Professor and Homeschooling Parent Answe…I received this comment on my…
Peter Anspach posted this list. Here are some of my favorites. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my…
Students who are new to journalism often introduce a quote like this: When asked about a habit he’d most like his journalism students to break, Dennis Jerz said, “Usually when I see the phrase ‘when asked about,’ I look for things to throw.” We only encounter that phrase in reporting, so when students start writing…
Students in my journalism class are publishing short articles on the U.S. election, starting with advance stories today, then continuing with live updates on Election Day and afterwards. This year, students have already started publishing articles online as soon as they are ready, rather than waiting until after the print edition has been sent to…
A few weeks ago, I had to get a new credit card because someone tried to use it fraudulently. The new credit card didn’t arrive until after Verizon tried to charge my bill to the old card. I’ve updated the auto-pay feature with the new credit card, but I don’t know how to read this…
My good camera is out of commission… there was a class action lawsuit against Canon for the “lens error” flaw in the camera I bought, so perhaps I’ll be able to get it repaired for free. I volunteer doing PR for a local theatre company; while I was sitting in the waiting room during my…
I’m not sure “thank you” is the right way to acknowledge this painful link from Paul Crossman. “Oh, come on,” you’re probably saying. “It’s not the music that’s addictive. It’s the dance, from the goofy video. That’s what went viral.” (There’s that word again.) Well, it turns out that this programming effect could be embedded…