Something has been bothering me all day. Either the front-page flap over the ‘outing’ of a CIA operative is a farce, or sloppy reporting is contributing to the FUD factor. The controversy involves the charge that someone in the Bush administration leaked the identity of CIA operative (undercover agent currently serving in a hostile country?…
A new Brookings Institution report debunks the popular notion that U.S. schoolchildren suffer from a growing homework load, and do not have enough time to play and just be kids. According to data analyzed by the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, the great majority of students at all grade levels now spend less…
For the last nine years, the readers of the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.int-fiction have held a yearly interactive fiction competition. For fans of the old Infocom games as well as for newcomers to the genre, the competition is a chance to enjoy some of the best short adventure games available anywhere. —9th Annual Interactive Fiction CompetitionIFcomp.org)…
Being of the generation that wanted to both bring home the bacon and fry it, I didn’t plan on going back to part-time work, and neither did many of my friends and colleagues who have done so. But we all had an eye open for opportunities and were willing to go out on a professional…
Fingers in this cyber-saddled age are more dexterous with computer keyboards and Pavlovian mouse clicks than with the ragged edges of a new hardback’s pages, with the satisfying heft of a book about to be cracked, with the spooning feel of its spine in your palm. Lost, too, are the inky smell of a book’s…
Over three decades of teaching has taught me that it’s impossible to teach students. I can only teach English literature to students. And to do that I need to know a lot more about English literature than I ever plan to teach. —Nils Clausson —How to Tell the Good Teacher From the Bad. (Irascible Professor)…
—Battlestar Galactica ‘Launch When Ready’ Bridge Girl Fan Page (Wayback Machine’s archive of SarahRush.com) Today my five-year-old son was watching one of my wife’s old Battlestar Galactica videotapes, and I remembered that when I was about 11 I had a crush on the cute bridge crewmember who told the Viper pilots stuff like “Transferring core command to…
A trend for naming children after favourite possessions is accelerating in brand-driven America. | The records show that in 2000, 49 children were named Canon, followed by 11 Bentleys, five Jaguars and a Xerox. —John Harlow —Branded anything but Unique (news.com.au) The title refers to the fact that there were 24 children named Unique in 2000.…
Welcome to the Bowling For Columbine TEACHER’S GUIDE. The lessons and activities in this GUIDE are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills, historical analysis, and open their minds on many universal issues. —Bowling for Columbine: Teachers’ Guide (Bowling for Columbine) 1) Moore is a very talented filmmaker. 2) I am personally in favor of…
The Internet has become a grossly commercialized Wild West in so many ways. But the community spirit on which it was founded is alive and well. The Net depends on the same spirit that motivates volunteers in the physical world: a commitment to solve problems and make life better for those who might otherwise not…
“Detective Brown’s death is a great loss,” said Idaville Police Commissioner Rupert “Bugs” Meany, a longtime critic of Brown’s unorthodox investigative technique who nevertheless appeared to be shaken by the murder. “Thanks to him, Idaville has the highest arrest-to-conviction-due-to-obscure-trivia rate in the nation. I believe I speak for everyone in Idaville when I say that…
In his new book, War Against the Weak, investigative reporter Edwin Black makes the case that 20th century American proponents of eugenics — the belief that controlled breeding can improve humanity — had substantive ties to the architects of Hitler’s racial extermination machine. — Dan Vergano —Book explores eugenics’ origins (USA Today) A student in my…
In an elaborate scheme to dupe security companies and journalists, McWilliams acknowledged last night that he purchased the domain name last March and registered it under the name of “Abdul Mujahid of Karachi.” He also left a legitimate mirror site in place on a server in Pakistan and by his own admission has been receiving…
Mr. Kazan’s achievements in theater and cinema helped define the American experience for more than a generation. For Broadway, his legendary productions included “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Death of a Salesman.” His movie classics included “On the Waterfront” and “East of Eden.” —Elia Kazan, Influential Director, Dies at 94 (NY Times) Since the link to…
If I was to get a fake diploma, I’d pick a forger who could SPELL! But then, I have most of the real diplomas I need. Perhaps what this tells us is: if you are clever enough to figure out that a fake diploma needs to be free from typoes and look real, that means…
The nonprofit library cooperative that owns the Dewey Decimal system has filed suit against a library-themed luxury hotel in Manhattan for trademark infringement. —Dewey Decimal Owner Sues ‘Library’ Hotel (AP/Wired) Similar:Spring and Fall, by Gerard Manley HopkinsMárgarét, áre you grÃeving Over Goldeng…AestheticsStories from the Tall Tales Club – Episode 1 The Time ElephantI’ve had a lot…
Not only does the author give examples that avoid sexist language, it differentiates between those which are stylistically desirable and those which are stylistically awkward. The site also explains the difference between gender neutral and non-sexist language, something that could be very helpful for students trying to understand sexist language. The author asks (but does…
The House and Senate voted Thursday to grant the Federal Trade Commission explicit authority to create a national “do not call” list for telemarketers, but the move prompted a second federal judge to block the move. —‘Do not call’ list faces more hang-ups (CNN) An amusing side note… the judge who initially blocked the motion has…
The bottom line is that scholarly publishing isn’t financially feasible as a business model — never was, never was intended to be, and should not be. If scholarship paid, we wouldn’t need university presses. —The Invisible Adjunct —Crisis in Scholarly Publishing (Invisible Adjunct) Similar:The reluctant wisdom of a science major in my freshman writing class.”There’s nothing…
The Invisible Library is a collection of books that only appear in other books. Within the library’s catalog you will find imaginary books, pseudobiblia, artifictions, fabled tomes, libris phantastica, and all manner of books unwritten, unread, unpublished, and unfound. —The Invisible Library I think I blogged this a long time ago. It’s not in my…