Letters from hometown soldiers describing their successes rebuilding Iraq have been appearing in newspapers across the country as U.S. public opinion on the mission sours. | And all the letters are the same….Sgt. Christopher Shelton, who signed a letter that ran in the Snohomish Herald, said Friday that his platoon sergeant had distributed the letter…
These are your panel questions. You will be asked some of them, not necessarily in this order: Is our fate in our genes or in our stars? Explain. What are the potential injustices or misuses of DNA information? Will the human genome diminish humanity by taking the mystery out of life? Jurassic Park was a…
In a few hours, my TV will care less about me. A show might attract relatively few viewers, and be panned by the critics, but if it attracts enough people in the magic age group of 18-34, it can pull in a lot of advertising dollars. In a few hours I will turn 35. Our…
Order and Respect in the ClassroomLitreracy Weblog) [Note: I’ve changed the title of this entry and edited it slightly — mostly by changing which words I used to link to Mike Arnzen’s blog. The previous version the previous version implied an association that I didn’t mean to create.] On his PEDABLOGUE, Mike Arnzen confesses he…
In a statement, SunnComm Technologies Inc. said it would sue Alex Halderman over the paper, which said SunnComm’s MediaMax CD-3 software could be blocked by holding down the “Shift” key on a computer keyboard as a CD using the software was inserted into a disc drive. —Ben Berkiwitz —Princeton Student Sued Over Paper on CD…
On the bridge, Baldwin counted to ten and stayed frozen. He counted to ten again, then vaulted over. “I still see my hands coming off the railing,” he said. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, “I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable–except for…
—Muppet Terror Alert (Geek and Proud) Found on Sarcasmo’s Corner Similar:The world's oldest story? Astronomers say global myths about 'seven sisters' stars may rea…In cultures around the world, myths abou…Culture''The Balloon Hoax'' by Edgar Allan PoeWhen steampunk was speculative fiction, …AmusingFun With Charts: Scale MattersAt first glance, this chart makes it loo…CultureWhile at Sadecky's Puppets to…
Barriers are being destoyed at the same time as bridges are being built within the literary community just as in almost every other field affected by the almighty computer. Arguments fly on all sides especially as to what constitutes art. Progress constantly changes the determination–even when it may be that it is a subjective view,…
It must be that time of the semester (no, no, Michelle, not that time): people are talking about grading student papers. —Ron Vitia —Grading Papers (Vitia) I don’t understand the in-joke referring to Michelle, but the conversation that ensues is good. Via Clancy on KairosNews. Similar:Why I Still BlogI particularly value blogging because of…AcademiaAnnoyed and Bored…
A note from C.M. Worth reminds me to blog that Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death died this weekend. —Neil Postman, Mass Media Critic, Dies (NY Times) Similar:I Love Books: A Campus Library EvolvesI love books. I love smelling them, t…AcademiaOh, No. YouTube is Deleting Videos.Oh no. First YouTube institutes a “COVI…Current_EventsShakespeare portrait said…
Once the system is in place, patrons will be asked to stand in front of a camera to have their picture taken and will then swipe their drivers’ licence, or possibly show some other form of identification, that will automatically give the establishment the patron’s name and age and show if he or she has…
Raelians have made fun of the media that gave such extensive coverage to their cloning story. —Brigitte McCann —Rael’s Clones a Hoax? (Calgary Sun) This article refers to the burst of media attention this odd sect got over claims that a human had been successfully cloned. Similar:TARDIS from today's 3D printing class.AestheticsFamily Business (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch,…
A self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska’s brown bears harmless party animals was one of two people fatally mauled in a bear attack in Katmai National Park and Preserve – the first known bear killings in the 4.7-million-acre park. —Rachel D’Oro —Bear enthusiast, companion fatally mauled in Katmai National Park (Ancorage Daily News) Just in…
Forty-five percent of Americans believe the news media in this country are too liberal, while only 14% say the news media are too conservative. These perceptions of liberal inclination have not changed over the last three years. A majority of Americans who describe their political views as conservative perceive liberal leanings in the media, while…
A very outgoing young man in my class (“Troy”) keeps a blog (Internet diary) about his schoolwork, partying, and politics. As I read his entries, including his grousing about my class, I tell myself that I am not eavesdropping, and that he is entitled to write whatever he likes in a public forum. Yet his…
[T]he recipients of higher education (along with the parents whose experience is 30 years out-of-date if they had one) do not know in advance what they need. If they did, they wouldn’t need it, and what they often want, at least at the outset, is an education that will tax their energies as little as…
A study carried out by USA Today and seven other newspapers in 2001 concluded that faulty design, not punch-card machines, was responsible for voters’ confusion in Palm Beach County in 2000. Despite this finding, states have focused their election-reform energies on upgrading old punch-card machines to optical-scan systems or on implementing electronic voting. They have…
A person’s mental ability as a child could well be an indicator of their chances of surviving to a ripe old age, according to a landmark study which has followed up on surveys carried out in the first half of the last century. —David Salt —Mental Ability Linked To Survival Age (Discovery) Similar:A Note of Recognition…
Defendants will distribute the Net Settlement Fund by providing a discount at the cash registers of all KB Toys, KB Toy Works, KB Toy Outlet, Toy Liquidator and KB Toys Express stores nationwide, including Guam and Puerto Rico, equal to 30% off all qualifying purchases of $30 or more during October 8-14, 2003. This distribution…
News makers have always had ways of getting their news and views before the public. Often with the help of public-relations professionals, they’ve held press conferences, issued statements, offered interviews. In the past decade, they’ve created Web sites, though those pages have usually contained public-relations puffery, not candid communications.|Recently, a few forward-thinking news makers have…