The greatest abstract for a journal article ever – 22 Words

The greatest abstract for a journal article ever – 22 Words. Similar:[E-Mail is for Old People] –[E-Mail is for Old People] (User Frie…AmusingThe Challenger disaster, Jan. 28, 1986On this day in 1986, the Challenger spac…EducationLetter Grades Deserve an 'F'In a points-based grade book, the studen…AcademiaPerseverance lands on Mars today! Here's what you need to know Today,…

To this baby, “A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work”

Similar:Games as Text and K12 Social Studies Rather than training students to ident…CultureMedia Bias Chart (Ad Fontes, v. 9)Objective news reporting is an ideal. Wh…CultureWhen Is Asking the Question Part of the News? (Rarely.) We mostly only encounter the phrase “whe…EducationRevisiting a Website I Created in 1996: Engineering Writing Centre (University of Toronto)During the Christmas break of 1996,…

Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive

Big, sad news in the world of big (sad) journalism. One of Rupert Murdoch’s most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries about a circulation scam at News Corporation’s flagship newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. The Guardian found evidence that the Journal had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy…

Anti-Telemarketing Script | UCAN

Before you start answering questions from a telephone solicitor, you must “qualify” the company as a potential prospect for a law suit. If, during the introductory pitch, the telemarketer indicates that they are working for a non-profit firm, or a survey company, hang up immediately. They are not subject to the law and are a…

Quotations: Integrating them in MLA-Style Papers

I touched up an older handout on citing quotations in MLA style. The MLA-style in-text citation is a highly compressed format, designed to preserve the smooth flow of your own ideas (without letting the outside material take over your whole paper). See also: Academic Writing; Using Quotations Effectively; Thesis Statements One engineer who figures prominently in all accounts…

A Tribute to a Journalism Favorite

As my news writing students work on several drafts ahead of a mid-term revision date, I found myself thinking of ways to remind them of the inverted pyramid. This BNKR Arquitectura concept for an “Earthscraper” (underground skyscraper) proposes to create a huge amount of prime downtown space, without sacrificing a central square. (The space is…

Micheal Flaherty: The Latest Crime Wave—Sending Your Child to a Better School – WSJ.com

Even when I mentally adjust for the alarmist rhetoric, I find this truly frightenting. What a pathetic use of resources… what a painful sign that our public schools are failiing, when they circle the wagons like this and villify their neighbnors, in an attempt to keep their local systems afloat. Other school districts use services…

If HTML5 Kills the Blog Format, I Won’t Shed a Tear

The blog format relieves publishers from the tiresome duty of producing covers and front pages and things to make their content more attractive and make readers want it. In some cases, it enables publishers to surrender any responsibility for making content attractive in the first place. There is a prophetic scene in the magnificent movie…

Revision vs. Editing

My first semester as a freshman writing instructor, I jotted the word “redundant” several different places in the margins of a student’s paper, and gave her the opportunity to revise. She returned the paper, having faithfully inserted the word “redundant” wherever I had written it. Clearly, I should have first taught this student about the…

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Coloring Pages

Over the past few weeks, I spent several hours trying to help keep the little Oompa-Loompas quiet between their rehearsal numbers. The kids seemed amused when I started drawing characters from the show. Here’s Veruca, holding the golden ticket. Some of the younger kids asked for copies they could color. More are on the Art/Architecture…