Aja Hannah's Dinosaur Dig Chronicle

One of my students, who is double-majoring in new media journalism and creative writing, is spending a few weeks on a dinosaur dig in Wyoming. She’s turned her academic blog into a travel journal. So far she has written: Thermopolis in Black and White What’s in my Dino Pack? dinoTravel Time dinoTaxi-ing dinoTravel I like…

New British Petroleum Logo?

http://i.imgur.com/P0qkj.jpg Via Jason Scott’s Facebook page. Similar:The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRMWhen you plug an audio cable into a smar…Business‘This is no longer a debate’: Florida sheriff bans deputies, visitors from wearing masks On Tuesday, as Florida set…CultureDesk trays, with procedural wood materials by Blendermada. #blender3dAestheticsRIP Metaverse, we hardly knew yeI am…

The Humanities Go Google

Authors and publishers have besieged Google’s plan to digitize the world’s books, accusing the company of copyright infringement. The legal limbo that has tied up a settlement of their lawsuits is hanging a question mark over universities’ plans to build centers for research on the books Google scanned from their libraries. Another complication: Worrisome questions…

Pardon my micro-textual emotional leakages

“We’re trying to detect a crime before it has occurred.” OK, roll the sci-fi thriller “Minority Report,” in which Tom Cruise and other “pre-crime” cops use psychic visions to arrest murderers before they kill. Or maybe “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” a George Clooney comedy inspired by real military experiments with supposedly psychic soldiers.…

eBook Readers in a Literature Class: Reflections on Kindle DX, Kindle for iPad, iBook for iPad

I’ve been using a Kindle DX for about a year, and an iPad for about a month, with both Amazon’s Kindle app and Apple’s iBook app.  (Update, June 2: I posted about the Barnes & Noble iPad app, as well.) I’m excited that all full-time SHU students will have iPads next year, though I’m frustrated that…

ProfHacker on Evernote

Reblogging this excellent set of ProfHacker productivity tips on Evernote. Similar:“Let It Go,” Idina Menzel’s Frozen ballad: It sends the wrong message.This author is probably overthinking thi…CultureJournalism 101: I fixed this meme for you.I can sympathize with the sentiment, but…CultureThe Chicago Tribune Has Made the Best Internet Mistake of the DayEvery second is a deadline,…

Copernicus

After hearing that the 16th-century astronomer Copernicus was to be reburied with honors in a Polish ceremony, I checked the Wikipedia entry. Woah! Among the great polymaths of the Renaissance, Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, quadrilingual polyglot, classical scholar, translator, artist,[3] Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat and economist. Among his many responsibilities,…

We Think in Public

Using my iPad, I can’t seem to copy and paste an excerpt, so I’ll just recommend Ian Bogost’s essay. http://www.bogost.com/writing/we_think_in_public_1.shtml Similar:In April 2000, I was blogging about HTML frames, the future of reading, grammar, Kairos, a…In April 2000, I was blogging about… …BooksFamily Feud: Tense Thanksgiving for Facebook and George Takei Businesses — as well…

Things That Made Me Put Down My iPad This Weekend

Attending a memorial service for my wife’s aunt, Julia Young, whose backyard and swimming pool were the heart of my wife’s extended family. Visiting Bushy Run Battlefield with the family. My daughter falling in love with the Drawing Pad app, which costs about as much as a package of cheap markers. Waking up Sunday morning…

First day with an iPad

I’m still learning the quirks of the iPad, which has turned out to be mostly fascinating, and a little frustrating. Mike Arnzen sent me a link to Jakob Nielsen’s recent column on iPad usability. Yes, the iPad works intuitively, but each designer’s intuition is just a little different. With my brand new gadget, I don’t…

Diaspora

I just donated the cost of a cafeteria meal. I’d rather have my stomach be grumbling a little over a missed lunch than sick over the latest Facebook shenanigan. Similar:Recent SHU journo grad, upon the hiring of an even more recent SHU journo grad: "Many time…A couple weeks ago I posted about a rece…AcademiaJoyful white…

THERE ARE MANY COINS HERE!

Jason Scott continues teasing us all as we await the delivery of Get Lamp (and the inventory of goodies to be found within). Coin 0001 is about to be shipped to Don Woods. Similar:I just finished "Beyond Eyes" and I think there's something in my eye.My 20yo son, who plays a lot of Star War…AestheticsYes,…

How to Save the News

Burdened as they are with these “legacy” print costs, newspapers typically spend about 15 percent of their revenue on what, to the Internet world, are their only valuable assets: the people who report, analyze, and edit the news. Varian cited a study by the industry analyst Harold Vogel showing that the figure might reach 35…

The Random Pulp Science Fiction Title Generator from Cornelius Zappencackler’s DERANGE-O-LAB

From Thrilling Tales (where the future is retro). Ambushed in the Unknowable Vacuum Tube Preserved in the Ultimate Star The Women of Pohl’s Meteors The Satellite from the Equation Hovering Artifact The Poisonous Cat of Space The Comet of Gernsback’s Pool Captives of the Eldritch Behemoth Creature that Blasted Phobos Men of the Unlikely Doctor…