Queen guitarist to complete doctorate

Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics, more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen. —Queen guitarist to complete doctorate (AP | Yahoo! (will expire)) This brightened my day. Similar:Elly Noble Reflects on Stage Right's New "Snow White"What’s it like on your first day rehears…CultureStandardized-test robo-graders flunk“According to…

Breaking News: Something Happening in Haiti

Breaking News: Something Happening In Haiti —Breaking News: Something Happening in Haiti (The Onion (Satire)) Great commentary on the accelerated news cycle. Similar:Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely BotsResearchers identified more than 100 fal…Current_EventsFlying Saucer Irony AmusingFair use prevails as Supreme Court rejects Google Books copyright caseFair use is a concept baked into…

Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter

“At first I didn’t believe a seagull was capable of stealing crisps. But I saw it with my own eyes and I was surprised. He’s very good at it.” —Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter (BBC) Very strange. My brother-in-law Robert sent it to me. Similar:A shooting, the president snatched away – this episode of 'The Trump Show'…

Statetris

—Statetris (mapmsg.com) Like Tetris, but with American states. Similar:The Problems of Real-Time Feedback in Teaching WritingSometimes my students get nervous becaus…AcademiaEco-critical Code Studies: Reconfigurations of nature in the born-digital artifact “Coloss… Video game history is colliding:…AcademiaHow to Get Boys to Sit Down with a BookResearchers and educators blame the gap …AcademiaCrowther's Adventure: Tough Memes to Squash…

Beginning Reporting

As I see it, a good reporter is like a pinball in play, always gathering, writing, revising, gathering, writing, revising–until time runs out. The job is as simple, and as hard, as that. The advice here is based on the teachings of reporters I admire. It is also based on conclusions I have drawn during…

Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks

There once was a horse-riding chap Who took a trip in a cold snap He stopped in the snow But he soon had to go: He was miles away from a nap. —Lore Sjöberg —Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks (Bad Gods) Similar:New Kindle Helps Readers Show Off By Shouting Title Of Book Loudly And Repeatedly New…

Echochrome – the Escher Game

—Echochrome – the Escher Game (YouTube, Via Game Girl Advance) What a hypnotically simple interface! This is a PSP game. Since I’m not a platform gamer, I’ll have to admire this one from afar. Similar:Idlewild's Story Book Forest Improves Its SignageIn the past, I have pointed out copy-edi…AestheticsGames Based Learning through Text Adventures As I make…

AFP

A string of publishers failed to spot blatant plagiarism of one of English literature’s most famous authors, in a cheeky test to see if she would have secured a book deal today, a report said Thursday. David Lassman, head of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, sent manuscripts to 18 editors seeking a publishing contract,…

Adventures in ostrich suits….

I never thought that I would spend my fifteen minutes of fame dressed as as ostrich. —Megan Ritter —Adventures in ostrich suits…. (Megan Ritter) A member of Seton Hill’s College Republicans posts a brief reflection on her appearance on a Time.com front-page feature, as one of the 10 weirdest YouTube questions posted for the upcoming Democratic…

What do ombudsmen do?

Interest in ombudsmen has increased in response to all the polls showing that readers do not hold newspapers in particularly high regard. This problem is hardly a novel one. Similar circumstances led Ralph Pulitzer to establish a Bureau of Accuracy and Fair Play at his New York World in 1913. According to a 1916 issue…

They Just Don't Care

And as far as I know, no other news outlet in the world got this point wrong except the BBC — not even the tabloids. People often accuse the BBC of agenda-driven falsification of stories. Perhaps that’s sometimes true, I don’t know. But in the cases of science mis-reporting that I’m familiar with — and…