Cool Infographics – Blog – 10 Tips for (journalists) Designing Infographics

Cool Infographics – Blog – 10 Tips for (journalists) Designing Infographics. Similar:Thank you, anonymous donor of Mardi Gras candy.Okay, on closer inspection I see the red…AestheticsKitchen utensils for my steampunk villain's hideout. #Blender3D. There’s nothing particularly steampu…AestheticsReaders Are Liars: The 1928 Study That Predicted the Future of NewsThe invention of the telegraph and the s…BusinessPope Francis…

Blackboard buys Moodlerooms, creates open-source division

“We think it’s a terrific time to be making investments in the leading brands behind providing Moodle services,” [Blackboard’s] Henderson told Inside Higher Ed on Monday. In a blog post, he called the growing popularity of open source “the most important new dimension shaping the LMS market today.” Henderson acknowledged that some advocates might look upon Monday’s news…

They Might Be Giants fans recreate ‘Apollo 18’ track by track — as text adventures | The Verge

If you were to draw a Venn diagram including fans of They Might Be Giants and those of interactive fiction (“text adventures” to the layperson), chances are there would be some significant overlap. From that overlap springs Apollo 18+20: The IF Tribute Album, which is in fact not an album, but a collection of interactive fiction commemorating…

New FTC “Do-Not-Track” Recommendations: Clueless? | PCWorld

“If you strip out marketing and advertising from the Internet, nothing would be left,” says a worried suit, who seems to have forgotten about, you know, all that content. —New FTC “Do-Not-Track” Recommendations: Clueless? | PCWorld. Similar:The Outsiders Closing after Friday Night's ShowCurrent_EventsWhat happens if you hide everything on Facebook? I tried it for a…

Review: Angry Birds Space out of this world

Space seems like a fitting locale for the casual gaming franchise Angry Birds, considering its meteoric rise in popularity since launching 2009. —Review: Angry Birds Space out of this world. Excuse me, but do meteors actually rise? Similar:A lost generation of news consumers? Survey shows how teenagers dislike the news mediaMore than half of the…

Academic Journals — Finding Them Online (with EBSCOhost) — Jerz’s Literacy Weblog

To find the best academic sources for your paper… Close this web page. Walk, drive, skateboard, ride your unicorn, or otherwise physically go to your library. Talk to a reference librarian. You’ll save yourself time and aggravation, and you will get better results. Maybe your unicorn is tired, and you can’t get to a library just now.…

Video game nation: Why so many play

Since its November release, Skyrim has won award after award and led reviewers to call it the “greatest role-playing video game ever made.” In its first month, it made $650 million, almost double the entire year’s gross in the United States for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the bestselling movie of 2011.…

ASCII by Jason Scott / FaceFacts

After taking a whole bunch of new high-quality images, I found myself running out of space on my production machine. I briefly toyed with the idea of uploading a big chunk of files to The Cloud — thinking I could just get it back if I ever needed it — but then the voice of…

24 Hours at the Jerz Homeschool (More or Less)

A Twitter friend made a critical comment about homeschooling that I thought warranted a reply. I won’t repeat his comment here — after a brief reflection, he modified his statement, and suggested that people who are doing homeschooling right have a too-low profile. While I don’t pretend my kids are perfect, or that they don’t…

OH HAI SEXISM · charlesarthur · Storify

why aren’t there more women in technology? Hmm, let’s see if Twitter can help us find out.

Schofield teacher won’t face criminal charges

I blogged about this controversy the other day, so it’s only fair that I follow up. A Schofield Middle School teacher embroiled in a controversy after reportedly reading to his students from a science fiction book that one parent described as “pornographic” will not face criminal charges, police said. —Schofield teacher won’t face criminal charges…

Setonian Photo Editor Wins Second Place for News Photo in Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Contest

Setonian Photo Editor Wins Second Place for News Photo in Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Contest. Similar:Kelly Gallagher on "Readicide" I am reading to my daughter the four…BooksLooks like somebody’s webmaster accidentally preloaded a headline that would be easy to ed… Looks like somebody’s webmaster acci…Current_EventsCrash site and Tower of Voices. Well worth the side trip on…

Three books at heart of investigation in Schofield teacher’s administrative leave

Apparently there is an allegation this teacher read to the class from the internet some age-inappropriate material about prostitutes, but as I undrestand it, the school says it is responding to complaints about three books. In addition to a science fiction novel, a Schofield Middle School teacher now on administrative leave allegedly read excerpts from…

Why Your Infographic Is Evil (And Three Ways To Fix It)

“I can understand why readers like them so much, and in my position I have to follow the trends,” she said. “Even when I can’t stand them.” So until the trend dies, we’ve compiled a list of do’s, don’ts and best practices for creating and using infographics, whether you’re a blogger looking for content or…

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Lesson Plans: Activities Related to Stage Musical & Film — Jerz’s Literacy Weblog

My talented wife wrote this lesson plan, in honor of our local performing arts school (Stage Right! Greensburg)’s production of Joseph this weekend. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, draws its story from the (Old Testament) book of Genesis: Jacob gives his favorite son,…

iPad Review: Apple’s Third-Gen iPad May Be the Last One That Matters

An Apple iPad has never looked so awful. No, I’m not referring to the new iPad, the one with the ballyhooed Retina display. I’m referring to last year’s iPad 2, whose screen now looks grainy and pixelated when viewed alongside Apple’s latest tablet. The improvement in display quality smacks you in the face as soon…

The Neuroscience of Your Brain On Fiction

The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated. Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto (and a published novelist), has proposed that reading produces a vivid…

Leprechaun Dance 2012: My Kids on St. Patrick’s Day

Similar:I am very happy for these folks, who spent 20 or so years tweaking an insanely complex, co… AwesomeAnother 10 sq cm of details for a #steampunk control panel. Just background eye candy, not…AestheticsA pleasant find: somebody left a painted rock by the side of the road.AestheticsGawker Media Files for Chapter 11 BankruptcyThis is fallout…

Retracting “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory” | This American Life

We’re horrified to have let something like this onto public radio. Many dedicated reporters and editors – our friends and colleagues – have worked for years to build the reputation for accuracy and integrity that the journalism on public radio enjoys. It’s trusted by so many people for good reason. Our program adheres to the…

Culturomics Looks at the Birth and Death of Words

Roughly 30 to 50 years after their birth, they either enter the long-term lexicon or tumble off a cliff into disuse. The authors suggest that this may be because that stretch of decades marks the point when dictionary makers approve or disapprove new candidates for inclusion. Or perhaps it’s generational turnover: Children accept or reject…