Anyone over a certain age — and you know who you are — will remember those wonderful days of peppermint sticks and electric dog-washers, a magic time when running barefoot through the grass and having your cocker spaniel buffed and pressure-rinsed to a glossy sheen at the flip of a switch was every boy’s birthright.…
Why? Why? Why am I spending Friday night clearing out my in box? There were 1900 e-mails in my in box when I sat down an hour ago. Now there are only 1250 or so. I feel good about that, but pathetic at the same time. There has to be a German word for “the…
Dr. Sandry loved jazz–he played clarinet and saxophone–and was a big fan of Dave Brubeck and Charlie Parker. —Dr. Martin Sandry: 1937 – 2006 (Chicago Tribune) Uncle Marty had been married to my father’s sister for over 30 years. I remember him for his passion for jazz music, and his kindness towards my aunt. Thanks…
“When I remained 366 days underground, I had the impression of only spending 219 days,” he said. —Man to live three years in cave (BBC) Similar:At Age 11, I Named the Curiosity RoverWonderful story! I still remember that …EducationHey there, chaotic world in academia and beyond, could you settle down just a bit so I can…AcademiaStudents…
While their children are in class, parents like Hanlon and Leigh Jerz, of Unity Township, sit and chat. Jerz’s 8-year-old son, Peter, is participating for the first time. “I thought it would be enjoyable for us to see other home-school children and parents more regularly,” Jerz said. Hanlon said the program offers home-schoolers resources they…
Many a Quaint and Curious Volume of Forgotten Flash Many a Quaint and Curious Volume of Forgotten Flash (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Just a bit of fun with Flash. (My work for chapters 3 & 4 of Flash Journalism…. I’m just barely staying ahead of my students.) Similar:More bits of my summer project – another delightful…
The parser in Adventure is harder to use than most interactive fiction parsers, because this is the first of its type and fairly primitive. This is almost immediately evident when a user makes it to the building. One obvious thing to do would be to input “enter building;” doing so, however, returns the message “That’s…
The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive opportunity missed. The neurological process that directs thought, through fingers, into written symbols is a highly sophisticated one. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better — a lifelong benefit. Children who don’t learn…
A mere breath of a breeze disturbs the quiet of autumn in south London and the wind turbine on the gable of Donnachadh McCarthy’s home turns lazily. The morning sun casts shadows from solar panels onto the walls of the house and filters through the windows into his living room. “I’m in surplus. I am…
A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a “crook,” a “con artist” and a “fraud.” —Laura Parker —Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts (USA Today) I haven’t looked into the details of this case, here is…
Internet search leader Google is snapping up YouTube for $1.65 billion, brushing aside copyright concerns to seize a starring role in the online video revolution. —Google Snaps Up YouTube for $1.65B (AP|MyWay) Similar:In July, 2000, I was creating handouts on the sounds of poetry, prototypes, and writing fo…It seems that an unusually high percenta…AcademiaCNN Profiles Former…
That’s cut and paste journalism, taken in large part from Wikipedia – the online encyclopedia to which any member of the public can contribute. Here’s where freelance journalist Tom Winterbourn took the exact same words and sentences from Wikipedia. —Community Papers Anniversary Lift (ABCTV (Australia) MediaWatch) An interesting article about a print journalist accused of plagiarizing…
[Y]ou’re running around on a big circuit board, powering up at transformers, dodging resistors, your path barred by ROM chips. This probably seems pretty weird to The Youth of Today. In the years since Tron we’ve been trained to think that a journey to “the inside of the computer” might entail running around on a…
Annoying Blue Bounding Box in Adobe Flash (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’m introducing Adobe Flash to my New Media Projects course next week. I’ve fiddled with Flash before, but I haven’t yet worked through the examples in our book. My simian curiosity got the better of me, and I started clicking buttons at random. I suddenly noticed…
No longer enthralled with the world of social networking, the 26-year-old graduate student pulled the plug after realizing that a lot of the online friends he accumulated were really just acquaintances. He’s also phasing out his profile on Facebook, a popular social networking site that, like others, allows users to create profiles, swap message and…
“We are certain that the 16 editors, 417 freelance photographers, and both writers at In Touch will continue to give little Sutton Pierce the attention that a growing child of celebrities requires.” —Britney Spears Loses Custody Of Child To In Touch Magazine (The Onion (Satire)) Similar:I have two scenes in a horror film. My head appears…
—Timez Attack (BigBrainz) There are flashcard “games” and is multiplication bingo and multiplication Frogger, and they’re all well and good. But this is something else. Watch the video on the home page. Similar:The Days of Microsoft Internet Explorer Are Numbered—But Its Sorry Legacy Will Live OnStarting today, Microsoft will no longer…BusinessJustice (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode…
—[E-Mail is for Old People] (User Friendly) Thanks for the link, Josh. Similar:For some reason, I saw a bump in traffic to a page that linked to a "make-your-own-Trump-e… This sort of thing was funnier back …AestheticsThat Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent ItProfessional disinformation isn’t spread…CultureWhy Study Humanities? What I Tell Engineering…
The question, “what can you say when you step off something?” tells you almost everything you need to know about Armstrong: Everyone else on earth was thinking in terms of stepping on something — the surface of another world — while the pilot was thinking, and still thinks today, in terms of stepping off something…
But it turns out that even when I try to live an Apple life, that is a pretty lousy experience too. How could that be, you say? The apparent point of Apple’s existence is to create a beautiful and polished user experience. Well, it turns out that what Apple does is beautiful and polished *graphic…