Erin Sheehan was one of four people able to walk out of her 9:05 German class in room 207 Norris Hall. —T.Rees Shapiro —Monday, April 16th 2007 5:27PM: Students react to the tragedy This item is too short, and needs some copyediting (that should be “peeked” where it reads “peaked”) but it’s the best eyewitness…
The Mercury News posted an Associated Press package that included a video news story, accounts from witnesses and a disturbing home-made cell phone video that recorded dozens of gun shots and angry and disturbed screaming, presumably from the gunman. Perhaps most troublesome was that whoever was shooting the cell phone video, actually moved toward the…
I may be nostalgic, but I’m not stupid. Today’s technologically superior, multi-million dollar monstrosities are, in almost every way, superior to anything that even the most creative guy could do in his basement on an old TI. But, without the full spectrum of gaming to be measured against, the games of the day really did…
On Sunday, April 15, Westmoreland County residents will remember the victims of Nazism by observing Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Memorial Day. —Interfaith Community to Observe Holocaust Memorial Day (National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education) I just got back from taking my nine-year-old son to this service, which was very moving. The service began in the Congregation…
My ultimate aim is to illustrate children’s books with images like the ones on this site. To this end, I am trying to find ways to make good-looking 3D images quickly–images that have all the magic of the illustrations I loved as a child. —Nick Towers —Children’s Book Illustration by Nick Towers For a year…
Although the CRPG has certainly suffered its share of ups and downs over the decades, history shows that when things are at their bleakest, there is always a new company poised to spring onto the scene with an amazing new title that brings every true CRPG fan back to the table. Perhaps we’re at such…
CITY COUNCIL is based on an actual city council meeting I covered while working for a small twice-a-week newspaper early in my career. Some of the items here have been fictionally enhanced for educational purposes. And, of course, some names have been changed to protect the foolish. Even as an assistant editor at this small…
A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal. —Producer for Katie Couric Fired — For Lifting from ‘Wall St Journal’ (AP | Editor & Publisher) Here’s a copy of Jeffrey Zaslow’s “Of the Places You’ll…
“It’s almost always the first play I teach,” she said. “I do that because very often students have only encountered Shakespeare in high school and have a misunderstanding of him as safe, moral, and dull. This one really dislodges the idea that Shakespeare is full of eternal moral truths. It takes place in a different…
The first issue was providing enough fun. Every puzzle should have some reward, and a complicated or multi-stage puzzle should provide some minor rewards for partial solutions. So once I had the puzzle structure in mind (more about that later), I could see which puzzles were going to open a lot of new game-play and…
MySpace vs. Facebook (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I just searched Google News for MySpace and Facebook, and was surprised at the difference in what I found. Of the first seven MySpace hits, five emphasized criminal acts, and two were PR-driven pieces. Of the first seven hits on Facebook, only one involved legal worries (in an item that…
Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time…
Got to Dance (autographed by the author, M. C. Helldorfer; illustrated by Hiroe Nakata) Has a Heart (Magic School Bus (Turtleback)) (Annie Capecki; illustrated by Carolyn Bracken) Zathura The Movie Deluxe Storybook (Zathura: The Movie) (adapted by David Seidman) Frederick (Leo Lionni) —Coffee Table Books Meme (CultureCat) My coffee table is deep in kid territory. If…
The News Limited story suggested that net-savvy types were giving up on blogging and turning their attention to MySpace. The owner of Myspace is, of course, News Limited. Also conveniently not disclosed was the fact that, according to the Gartner report, use of MySpace has been falling steadily during the past year. […] Jorn Barger…
Perhaps the only thing that could have made this movie better would have been if Xerces, the God-king of the Persian army, had been played by John Stamos, the actor who played Uncle Jesse on Full House. Even the Spartans would have cowered beneath his seductive gaze and shining, well-combed hair. […] Not only did…
—Star Trek Bonanza (Something Awful) Similar:Pioneering Harvard Blog Site Wrapping It UpI still use blogs.setonhill.edu, which I…AcademiaIf You Ever Find a Link to ThoughtCatalog, I'm Begging You Not to Click It Here’s a thought… nothing you can …BusinessElon Musk has officially killed Twitter. The zombie platform lives on as X, a disfigured s… Whereas Twitter was…
Science Fiction movies have been a source for speculation about the future of technology and human computer interaction. This paper presents a survey of different kinds of interaction designs in movies during the past decades and relates the techniques of the films to existing technologies and prototypes where possible. The interactions will be categorized with…
Students at the George Mason University School of Law received a double whammy last week: First, Dean Daniel D. Polsby sent an e-mail informing them of a “special town hall meeting” scheduled for Monday where they could meet a candidate for a tenure-track job — a 22-year-old candidate who had once posted online class notes…
Colleges and universities must inform students about the particular dangers they face online. But if schools actively monitor their students’ online activities and students are aware of this policy, they may have a duty of care that includes preventing any illegal acts committed as a result of information posted online. Thus, schools should inform their…
The potential caves were spotted near a massive Martian volcano, Arisa Mons. Their openings range from about 330 to 820 feet (100 to 250 meters) wide, and one of them, Dena, is thought to extend nearly 430 feet (130 meters) beneath the planet’s surface. The researchers hope the discovery will lead to more focused spelunking…