Still Not the News: Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs

Video news releases are pre-packaged broadcast segments designed to look like television news stories, that are funded by and scripted for corporate or government clients. (See “Fake TV News: Introduction.”) On April 6, 2006, the Center for Media and Democracy released a comprehensive report detailing TV newsrooms’ use of VNRs. The report, “Fake TV News:…

Best Invention: YouTube

Having started with a single video of a trip to the zoo in April of last year, YouTube now airs 100 million videos–and its users add 70,000 more–every day. What happened? YouTube’s creators had stumbled onto the intersection of three revolutions. First, the revolution in video production made possible by cheap camcorders and easy-to-use video…

Whack-A-Moliere

Whack-A-Moliere (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I made this with cleverpig.com’s Whack-A-Pig tutorial. Similar:DC Just Announced Plans For Choose Your Own Adventure Style Digital ComicsIt’s rather hard to believe it took them…GamesFacebook exec erroneously cites The Lord of the Rings when comparing the social network to…A Facebook executive, Andrew “Boz” Boswo…BusinessMy brother is visiting to play a game…

Physics for Future Presidents

[C]hocolate chip cookies (CCCs) have eight times the energy as the same weight of TNT. How can that be true? Why can’t we blow up a building with CCCs instead of TNT? —Physics for Future Presidents Via Metafilter. My eight-year-old son is a physics junkie. I can’t wait to show him the videotaped lectures and…

Once upon a time

“I’ve been making up bedtime stories for my children and suddenly I’ve had a brainwave. These stories are good! These stories are brilliant! I would be failing in my moral duty to my adoring public if I did not put them down on paper.” If my theory holds true, it is scary, because it suggests…

The Wikipedia and the Death of Archaeology

Given a sufficient amount of server space and the commitment to maintain it, a resource already exists that may not only sound the death knell of archaeology, but also the opportunity to enable a greater depth and sophistication of anthropology than has ever existed before. So radical an innovation would this new anthropological methodology represent…

Seton Hill University Information Technology's Special Comments about Internet Usage and Web Postings

Seton Hill University encourages self-expression and open communication as part of the student experience, in balance with the mission of Seton Hill University and the ideals of sensitivity, dignity and respect for self and for others. —Seton Hill University Information Technology’s Special Comments about Internet Usage and Web Postings (Seton Hill University) More and more students…

Best. Costume. Ever.

—Best. Costume. Ever. If your geek quotient isn’t high enough to recognize it, this is a mock-up of the power loader from Aliens. Similar:Google Docs "Writing to Learn" ActivityI created a fresh Google Docs page with …AcademiaHomeward (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 13) Worf's foster brother interferes w… Rewatching ST:TNG The Enterprise-…EthicsTexture WriterI’ve only…

Percentage of Chart Which Resembles Pac-Man

—Percentage of Chart Which Resembles Pac-Man (themot.org) Similar:Time’s Arrow, Part 1 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 26) Data's head in a mine …Rewatching ST:TNG An archaeologist wh…CultureAmbiguous language in journalism: Monkey Pox and Camel Privates Amazing lead: A veterinarian prescr…AmusingVideo-Game Violence Is Now a Partisan IssueScholar and essayist Ian Bogost traces t…CultureGetty makes 35 million…

Stephen Colbert on Blogs

—Stephen Colbert on Blogs (Youtube) My student Gabby Blanchard posted this on her blog. Hilarious. Similar:In July 1999, I was blogging about Dante's ashes, Apollo 11, gender-neutral language, and …In July, 1999, I was blogging about: …CultureReflections on Flannery O'Connor's "The River"I’m teaching “The River” today in an “In…CultureToasting Shakespeare at the Bard's Birthday BashOrganized by…

Shaking Things Up

Inkshedding was first developed by writing teachers Russ Hunt and Jim Reither in the 1980s. You can find all kinds of information about it online. Of course, as with any popular teaching technique, many different practices now fall under the name of inkshedding, as instructors have personalized it and made it their own. Dan’s version…