FactCheck.org fills a journalistic void. Major media outlets tend to report on the strategy behind campaign commercials rather than analyzing the content for veracity. Even though Jackson pioneered ad watches for CNN, the cable network let him go last year. “I’ve seen the press generally put less emphasis on ad watches and fact-check-type stories,” Jackson…
After much delay, the results of this year’s BetaComp are in. I was pleased to see that once again, each entrant found at least *something* that no other entrant did, and no single entrant found more than about 50% of all the bugs that were found. This reinforces the prevailing theory that several testers (and…
The problem with comments, open forums, e-mail discussion lists and other user-generated online content is that it takes work — usually a moderator or trust system — to make sure the comments stay relevant, clean and spam-free. In fact, spammers have made old Usenet groups unreadable, have flooded most e-mail inboxes, and have brought their…
Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. —Richard Cory Interactive Adventure (LLamas) Quite frankly, this was a disappointment, but it was still sick, so it might still have some morbid entertainment value. (The climax of…
You are now registered for Serious Games Summit at the Loews L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC on October 18-19, 2004. Serious Games Summit Registration Confirmation (Serious Games Summit) The Seton Hill administration came up with most of the cost of registering for the conference, which was very generous, since I’m not presenting a paper. My…
I have never posted before, and I hope that I am doing this correctly. This is in response to the questions about the dates of the birth of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. —Dennis G. Jerz, 1993. —Clueless Usenet Newbie: ”Re: Jesus’ Birthday” (alt.folklore.urban) What a dork I was. I was… am part of the Eternal…
[O]nline media can take us and our readers to places journalism hasn’t been before. And in those places, our values may be obstacles or antiques. Please consider: Balance/Fairness/WholenessHypertext links to more information can guarantee thorough reporting. But we should decide: When we should link to ads, to editorials or columns, to sites of partisan organizations,…
One proposal put forward is that Newton’s idea that the force of gravity weakens as distance increases may be incorrect over very large spaces, and may drop off over very long distances. —Robin McKie —Space probes feel cosmic tug of bizarre forces (Guardian) Similar:The History of Typography Told in Five Animated MinutesOpen Culture. AestheticsOne in…
NEW YORK – It‘snot just students who need to brush up on their writing. A majority of U.S. employers say about one-third of workers do not meet the writing requirements of their positions, according to a survey by the College Board‘sNational Commission on Writing. —Survey show workers shud write better (MSNBC/AP) I’m sorry, this is just…
It is an article of faith with millions of Americans, most of them on the left, that George W. Bush is stupid. Many reasonable people think his policies are ill-advised, but millions more insist Bush must be a moron because he sounds stupid… In a letter to be published in The Atlantic’s October issue, Price…
“Turn off the television and read the newspaper. There’s more truth in your local paper than you’ll find on CNN.” — James McBride, author and musician, concluding his remarks at tonight’s lecture here at Seton Hill University. —James McBride Lecture (New Media Journalism @ Seton Hill University) Similar:How to Get Boys to Sit Down with a…
On April 12 1979, Kevin McKenzie of Arpanet’s MsgGroup made the following suggestion: Perhaps we could extend the set of punctuation we use, i.e.: If I wish to indicate that a particular sentence is meant with tongue-in-cheek, I would write it so: “Of course you know I agree with all the current administration’s policies -).”…
The popular online pastime known as blogging has found its way into the English classrooms at Georgia Tech. In an innovative approach, Dr. Charles Tryon and Dr. Doreen Piano have both integrated blogging into their English 1101 classes this semester for the first time. —Jeff Wei —LCC professors explore weblogging in English classes (Technique) I’m afraid…
“While trying to improve math, science, and technology in our schools, we’ve neglected writing,” said Commission member Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, which founded the Commission. “Writing is a fundamental professional skill. Most of the new jobs in the years ahead will emphasize writing. If students want professional work in service firms, in…
Called Ka-on, which means “flower sound” in Japanese, the gadget consists of a doughnut-shaped magnet and coil at the base of a vase. It hooks up to a CD player, TV or stereo and relays sounds up through a plant’s stem and out via the petals. — Flower power turns up the volume (BBC) Thanks for…
While some early reviews bemoan the fact that elements of Fable had to be scaled back, it‘sclear that the game is still remarkably ambitious. As the player‘scharacter ages, and as the world changes around him (“him? because plans for female heros were among those cut), he can choose at almost any time to explore and…
While there were times in which some students wrote longer messages, more often than not, the posts were short, merely links to other documents, or text that was “cut and pasted” from another source. There was very little writing that could be described as reflective, dynamic, collaborative, or interactive. There was almost no exchange or…
When history books are written, bloggers’ real contribution to the 2004 election may well turn out to be in providing leagues of amateur sleuths to fact-check political controversy…. The Bush memo story has shown the Internet’s broader power of linking thousands of readers together, as much as it has demonstrated the intrinsic power of blogs…
Welcome to the exciting world of hurricane journalism! While your highly paid colleagues on the anchor desk are broadcasting from the dry safety of a heavily fortified television studio, you and your camera crew will be out in the maw of the storm, risking your lives for no good reason. ? What you should wear:…
On April 19, 2002, U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. ruled that video games do not convey ideas and thus enjoy no constitutional protection. As evidence, Saint Louis County presented the judge with videotaped excerpts from four games, all within a narrow range of genres, and all the subject of previous controversy. Overturning a…