MySpace Diatribe Brings Death Threats

The case, California’s first on the issue, concerns a University of California student who ranted on her MySpace account about how much she hated her hometown of Coalinga in the Central Valley. The Coalinga Record, the local newspaper, published Cynthia Moreno’s “Ode.” She sued the paper for invasion of privacy after members of the local…

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

“I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain…

A Discussion Between Vannevar Bush, K. Eric Drexler, Dennis Jerz, Mr. T, and TJ Chapp

I don’t get to say much, but I’m honored to find myself associated with such company. The following dialogue was fabricated in order to illustrate the viewpoints of Vannevar Bush, K. Eric Drexler, and Dennis Jerz, and how they relate to the website created by TJ Chapp for Engineering Professional Development: Engineering applications to web…

Secret Mouthwash Dance Exposed as Fraud

Recently, while getting the kids ready for bed, my wife picked up the mouthwash, twisted off the lid, and handed the bottle to our daughter. Carolyn, 8, stared in shock. “You didn’t do the dance!” Carolyn has dexterous little fingers that love to pry things apart. When we added mouthwash to the bedtime routine a…

Stop Close Reading

Students almost universally hate close reading, and they rarely wind up understanding it anyway. Forced to pick out meaning in passages they don’t fully grasp to begin with, they begin to get the idea that English class is about simply making things up (Ah yes–the tree mentioned once on page 89 and then never again…

The Poets (Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry)

A great collection of bite-sized interpretations. On “Richard Cory”On “Miniver Cheevey” On “They shut me up in Prose”On “Because I could not stop for Death” Similar:Me Checking into My #4C19 Conference Hotel RoomI’ll just mark a few more papers before …AcademiaToasty Warm Bed (designed by drunk AI neural net)AestheticsI've Stopped Creating Syllabi. Now I Create…

Mark Twain Celebrated in Hannibal, Missouri

I keep forgetting that I can’t use my iPad to blog with MovableType. The WYSIWYG editor does not work, and I can’t even seem to paste a URL when using the text editor. At any rate, this is a Flash video from USA Today. Similar:Lego TimelineThe Lego brick system was patented 50 ye…AestheticsNetflix’s ‘The Piano…

Paedomorphic flightlessness and taxonomic affinities of an enormous Recent bird

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Kings Quest fansite says Activision has un-canceled the fan-produced sequel

Graham of Daventry posted to my blog, with news that the fan-produced Kings Quest, non-commercial sequel has risen from the dead. http://tinyurl.com/2em59… The first release date is scheduled for mid-July. Similar:A Matter of Time (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 9) Smarmy Time Traveler Observ…Rewatching ST:TNG An eccentric ti…AmusingJack Rollins-Frosty the Snowman I voiced Jack…