Scraping and Republishing Full Content from Other Blogs

A blog called “literacyintheclassroom.com” seems to be scraping the full content of my blog and republishing on their site. If this post shows up on literacyintheclassroom, we can assume a bot is mindlessly reposting whatever it finds on my site, which seriously calls into question what real value literacyintheclassroom offers. If this post does not…

iPad Usability: Year One Jakob Nielsens Alertbox

A year after our first usability study of iPad apps, it’s nice to see that iPad user interfaces have become decidedly less wacky. It’s even better to see good uptake of several of our recommendations from last year, including apps with: back buttons, broader use of search, homepages, and direct access to articles by touching…

Its Not the Technology, Stupid! Response to NYT “Twitter Trap” | HASTAC

The industrial age worked hard to separate “work” from “home.”  Everything about the common or public schools started in the mid-nineteenth century reinforced that division:  from the school bell ringing for each child at the same time of day, of each child entering school at age 6 whether they were ready or not, about sitting…

WordPress duplicate images driving me crazy

I’m using the Atahualpa Theme with WPTouch Pro. When I view pages with my iPad, I get a strange double image. Similar:Blue Feed, Red FeedFacebook is designed to keep your attent…CultureThree challenges for the web, according to its inventorA letter, published a few weeks ago, in …BusinessLog Off, You Losers! Electronic Flatulence Must Cease!”Put your…

Teaching with iPads: Motivation, Inspiration and Alienation in the Appleverse

Here are the slides for the half-day workshop I presented with my colleagues, Laura Patterson and Christine Cusick. Similar:Most Americans have a high opinion of the humanities, and 81% use at least one humanities-…While some survey respondents were unfam…AcademiaNovel defined: a term used by some students to mean “any text we study in English class”AcademiaWhat…

Making Writing Socially Engaging: Asking Why New Media Draws Us In

[View the story “Making Writing Socially Engaging: Asking Why New Media Draws Us In” on Storify] Similar:More Americans now see the media’s influence growing compared with a year agoAmericans’ views about the influence of …CultureHomage to PoeMichael Dirda offers a thoughtful assess…BooksEvery few years, I Google the name of the kid who saw "The Empire…

Seussical: Stage Right Homeschool Production

My 13yo was Horton the Elephant and my 9yo was the Sour Kangaroo (with attitude). Similar:Weird History offers a good debunking of this persistent myth.PersonalThe only snow alert you'll ever need.AmusingBeautiful day for a walk.PersonalThe Duolingo owl has been judging my German every day for the last year.EducationTerm grades submitted. Homeschool son graduated. Time to…

“Scary Things”: An Address to the Class of 2011 — The Goreletter — Michael Arnzen

Mike Arnzen posted his weird and wonderful address to graduation seniors. “Scary Things”: An Address to the Class of 2011 — The Goreletter — Michael Arnzen. Similar:PICT Classic Theatre presents a gritty version of Charles Dickens’ classicPost-Gazette.com – Homer, Shakespeare, C…BooksLEGO turned itself around by analyzing overbearing parents[C]hildren play to get oxygen, to unders…CultureHow Fake…

Another Nerdy Lord of the Rings Post

I just got an email from Amazon saying that typos and omissions in my Kindle edition of The Lord of the Rings have been corrected, and I can opt to receive the updated edition for free. However, like a certain similarly magical gift that I’m sure we’re all thinking of right now, this boon comes…

Bacon Starry Night Meme

I’ve no idea where the “Bacon Starry Night” meme comes from. Other than Vincent Van Gogh, and bacon, of course. My wife asked whether there is a bacon “The Scream.”  Not yet, apparently. Similar:In Which I Ask a Hard-working Journalism Student to Consider UndeadlinesA student recorded this interaction on h…AestheticsIPads in the classroom: The right…