A Famous Person Has Died (Cartoon Parody of TV News)

The first few panels of a 12-panel cartoon. Thanks for the suggestion, Mike. Similar:The Most Awesome 450 Page Presentation Everhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9F7tKc…AestheticsBoy, this sort of thing sure makes some racist people very angry.https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1305…CultureThe Perfect Mate (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 21) Picard fails to bore an em…Rewatching ST:TNG A fussy ambassa…AmusingAll the world’s an appA review…

Fall, 2009

LA100: Basic CompositionEL200: Media Lab and SetonianEL227: News WritingEL237: Writing about LiteratureEL266: American Literature I (1800-1915) Similar:Girlhood 2014They don’t even seem to want to watch Fr…CultureA New Talent EmergesI tried hard to frown disapprovingly whe…HomeMore split-screen actinghttp://youtu.be/EGgeZWskEs8DesignSources tell Seton Hill University's Dennis Jerz that TV news websites emphasize self-prom…Sources tell Seton Hill University’s Den…BusinessI can…

Giving up my iPod for a Walkman

Teen tries out a Walkman for a week. It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact…

Jorn Barger, the NewsPage Network, and the Emergence of the Weblog Community

This is from the online version of a paper being presented at Hypertext09. I already knew the general shape of the history, and I’m not sure that the author is actually providing us with a new take or a new insight (the introduction simply establishes the facts, rather than emphasizing how a new archival discovery,…

The 2009 Lyttle Lytton Contest

My favorite “winner” in this year’s Lyttle Lytton Contest, which awards writers who can, in one sentence, imitate the infamous “It was a dark and stormy night” novel opening. Alex turned to Gertrude, in much the same way Martin Landau turned to Barbara Bain in the opening of Space: 1999. — Alex Dering Similar:Thoughtful Gestures…

Blender 3d Softbody Demo

I can’t say I understand my creation, but it sure was fun making it. Similar:The Drudge Report is pulling no punches as it covers the Trump document sagaThe Drudge Report is pulling no punches …Current_EventsIs your child texting about recursive acronym palindromes? Is your child texting about recursive …AmusingAnd Now for This Breaking News Report…

Secretary charged with changing daughter's grades

A high school secretary has been charged with illegally changing grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter’s class standing and with lowering the grades of two other girls. —Elanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Similar:Pesky journalists, always showing up to document atrocities.No Democratic president should send in t…CultureHow Bad Design Wrecked Steve Harvey's "Universe"The…

Short Stories: Developing Ideas for Short Fiction

I just supervised a teaching demonstration in the Writing Popular Fiction program here at Seton HIll, and the experience inspired me to touch up an old handout on developing ideas for short stories. A short story is tight — there is no room for long exposition, there are no subplots to explore, and by the end…

Mega Drop-Down Navigation Menus Work Well

Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user’s choices. — Jakob Neilsen Similar:Three-dimenstional PrintersA new generation of three-dimensional pr…DesignWhen an Eel Climbs a Ramp to Eat Squid From a Clamp, That’s a MoraySomewhere today a headline writer is wea…AwesomeBlewsMicrosoft researchers discuss Blews, whi…CybercultureAmerica’s…

Star Trek The Exhibition at The Franklin Institute

Set phasers to “meh”! My wife arranged a visit to The Franklin Institute a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t actually know that this Star Trek exhibit was there. I was ready to pass, in favor of the more educational exhibits, but my wife made it a Father’s Day treat and shelled out enough gold-pressed…

Chris Anderson’s Free Contains Apparent Plagiarism

Chris Anderson is best-known for championing the long tail (marketing to the niche customers who fill out the trailing end of a demographics chart, rather than trying to create products to please the mass market) and has been promoting a book on the topic. One of the early reviewers for his book identified great swaths…

AP Issues Strict Facebook, Twitter Guidelines to Staff

Woah! Trying to charge bloggers who quote more than 5 words was bad enough (I no longer quote from or link to AP stories). But the most contentious element in the new policy, which the union also decried as “vague,” gives this instruction to employees using Facebook: “Monitor your profile page to make sure material…

Twittering The Machine

I’ve never been a phone guy. My voicemail recording advises people to e-mail me rather than wait for me to remember to check my messages. Around 2004, I told a class of students that I didn’t use instant messager because I would have nobody to talk to. I got a generous “awww!” of pity from…

Twitter on the Barricades – Six Lessons Learned

But does the label Twitter Revolution, which has been slapped on the two most recent events, oversell the technology? Skeptics note that only a small number of people used Twitter to organize protests in Iran and that other means — individual text messaging, old-fashioned word of mouth and Farsi-language Web sites — were more influential.…

In Depth: Return to the lost civilisation of Usenet

Long before web forums, blogs, Twitter, and in many cases, the web itself, Usenet was where the internet gathered to shoot the breeze about anything and everything under the sun. — Koala eye Similar:Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh sentenced to 3 years for ‘Healthy Holly’ children’s …Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, w…BooksThe Big Goodbye (TNG…

The truth about game physics

A few years ago it was enough for a game world to look realistic. Now, in its every action and reaction, it must behave realistically. Physics is what graphics was ten years ago – a yardstick to judge and compare games.– Keith Suart, Guardian The first article in a series. Similar:Tom Bissell writes a letter…

Flu, Babies, and Joy

Sore throat. Sinus pressure. Upset stomach. Exhaustion. I’m sitting at home recovering from the flu, which I started to come down with during the Computers & Writing Conference this weekend. I had planned to attend Digital Humanities 2009 in Maryland, where I’m part of a group that’s presenting tomorrow. The group will survive without me as…

Surprising Sexist Statement from a University Professor

Here’s a surprising statement I found in a news article, quoting a Yale psychology professor. “Moms vary markedly in their roles as breadwinners from no income at all to really helping dads,” The language implies that money-making is the father’s responsibility, and the best rating on the scale that a woman can achieve is “helping”…

Mind Your BlackBerry or Mind Your Manners

“You’ll have half the participants BlackBerrying each other as a submeeting, with a running commentary on the primary meeting,” Mr. Reines said. “BlackBerrys have become like cartoon thought bubbles.” Some professionals admitted that they occasionally sent mocking commentary about the proceedings, but most insisted that they used smartphones for legitimate reasons: responding to deadline requests,…

Kindle's DRM Rears Its Ugly Head… And It IS Ugly | Gear Diary

I have not yet bought a Kindle, though I’d like one. However, this bit of news gives me pause. It’s exactly the worry that has kept me from sinking money into a proprietary format. Here’s Dan Cohen, explaining what he learned from an Amazon customer service rep, after some of the books he purchased failed…