USA Today rewrites strategy to cope with Internet

USA Today designed its coin-operated dispensers to resemble TV screens, but today’s flatscreen TVs don’t have rounded corners anymore. The content is getting a refresh, though. That breezy approach has reinforced perceptions that USA Today lacks the intellectual heft and sway of the Times and another national newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. Both those newspapers…

Found: Brass Candle Snifter

This was by the teacher’s station in Admin 403 today. I went to drop it off at the lost and found, but the campus police office was closed. Instead, I left it in the chaplain’s office, since that seemed appropriate. Similar:The Digital-Humanities BustDinosaurs evolved into birds. Not all of…AcademiaStudent Newspapers Scurry to Make Ends Meet“After…

Beyond Blogs

A weblog’s most characteristic feature — the prominence of the most recent entry — has consequences for long-term discussions. But those archives are linkable; a really good blog entry exists in a network of other related posts.  Constantly linking to your own ideas can be a form of narcissism, but judicious back-linking can overcome the…

10 Revolutionary iPad Apps to Help Autistic Children

10 Revolutionary iPad Apps to Help Autistic Children | Gadgets DNA. Similar:‘Hunger Games’ to digitally recreate Hoffman filmmakers behind the “Hunger Games” mo…CybercultureOn Office Hours and Student Contact at the Small Liberal Arts College I don’t expect students to be constantl…AcademiaSteve Strauss: Why I Hire English MajorsDoing things correctly earns you points …AcademiaFacebook’s push of…

New York Times Finally Announces Paywall — Will Start Charging March 28

From the NYT press release, an interesting compromise, that recognizes the value of traffic from search engines and blogs. Full digital access will cost an eye-popping $420/year, or $35/week. Will subscribers have to put up with online ads? All users of NYTimes.com are able to enjoy 20 articles at no charge each month (including slideshows,…

Oh, that’s how you do a science fair project!

Jeez, kids these days. Not satisfied to merely participate in wildly cool science fairs and competitions sponsored by tech industry giants, now they’re teaching us what we did wrong on our own science fair projects, oh so many years ago. At least that’s what Kevin Temmer managed to do, all in a video which Pearson…

Steampunk Submarine Room

Yes, please, I would certainly like one of those. Thanks for asking. Steampunk Submarine Room » Geeky Gadgets. Similar:Samaritan Snare (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 17)(Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generati…DramaJaz Parkinson "Colour Signatures"Amusing visual representations of the co…Aesthetics35% of my site visitors right now are using mobile devicesThis year I have seen an uptick…

NASA prepares a Mercury probe for orbit

NASA’s Messenger probe is about 10 days away from parking in an elliptical orbit around Mercury, the innermost planet of our solar system. Messenger has been en route since 2004, making a crazy Spirograph-looking series of orbits around the sun, taking the craft past Venus, and past Mercury three times, and finally heading for orbit…