Children's text messages are 'the key to their future'

"Researchers examined how different professions wrote text messages and divided them into four groups – creatives, jugglers, controllers and facilitators." —Children’s text messages are ‘the key to their future’ (Ananova) Sounds like a lazy journalist paraphrasing a press release rather than actually doing journalism, but the basic idea presented in the article seems interesting. Similar:One…

The Web Didn't Kill Libraries: It's the New Draw

"The Internet is fueling an increase in library use which, in turn, has led to a library-construction and renovation boom." Steve Freiss —The Web Didn’t Kill Libraries: It’s the New Draw (CS Monitor) Similar:Those #fakenews people are at it again. #freepress #journalism #payattentionJournalist Sam Husseini, who had been ho…CultureGoogle Favors Good Reporting, Not Liberal Views:…

This Promotional Pen Works So Great…

"I’m far too busy to seek [new drugs] out by reading medical journals and research papers or by talking to my fellow doctors. It really is a huge help to get great drug recommendations by way of hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs, pencil holders, clipboards, and fanny packs that I randomly encounter or that are sent…

Austin Powers Hijacked My Weblog

Through the website http://www.austinpowers.com/, AOLTimeWarner seems to be hosting an altered version of my weblog, with the background colors changed, an advertisement added, and all the links changed — as if my weblog is affiliated with Austin Powers. I checked out the first movie from the library and won’t bother with any of the sequels.…

Action Comics #1, 1938

Somebody who apparently doesn’t care much about copyright laws scanned in all the pages from the first appearance of the comic book hero Superman. —Action Comics #1, 1938 Similar:Shadowplay (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 16) Odo investigates disappearances … Rewatching ST:DS9 Just like last …EthicsPrime Stage – "Twelfth Night" – Carolyn Jerz ("Viola")https://youtu.be/FlaO1VI1nbk The…

Blogging: Electronic postings and links…

"John Robb, Userland president and COO, has coined a new term for the business blog — K-log, the ‘K’ denoting knowledge. It is so named because it is a tool for capturing and leveraging the knowledge contained in the minds of individual employees…" George Partington   —Blogging: Electronic postings and links…nbsp; (WorldCom) Yes, that WorldCom.…

Grad Student Deconstructs Take-Out Menu

"Realizing he hadn’t eaten since lunch, the Ph.D candidate picked up the Burrito Bandito menu. Before he could decide on an order, he instinctively reduced the flyer to a set of shifting, mutable interpretations informed by the set of ideological biases—cultural, racial, economic, and political—that infect all ethnographic and commercial ‘histories.’" —Grad Student Deconstructs Take-Out…

Crunched by Numbers

"[W]omen have been systematically misled into overestimating their chances of dying of breast cancer in order to prepare them to accept mammography." [A review of the book Reckoning with Risk.] —Crunched by Numbers (The Spectator) Similar:Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and ce… The Marion County Record reported …BusinessIn July,…

2002 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Winner

Bulwer-Lytton wrote a novel that infamously began, "It was a dark and stormy night." His name lives on in the title of an annual bad fiction contest. This year’s winner: "On reflection, Angela perceived that her relationship with Tom had always been rocky, not quite a roller-coaster ride but more like when the toilet-paper roll…

Folklorist Alan Lomax Dies

"Mr. Lomax was a musicologist, author, disc jockey, singer, photographer, talent scout, filmmaker, concert and recording producer and television host. He did whatever was necessary to preserve traditional music and take it to a wider audience." (Jon Pareles) —Folklorist Alan Lomax Dies (NY Times) Similar:D&D-Themed movie Zero Charisma pits Nerds vs. HipstersMy wife usually gives…

Weblogs: Put Them to Work in Your Newsroom

“Weblogs are growing up…. They’re not yet fully utilized in the news industry, but elsewhere weblogs are a common and widely used new piece in the Internet publishing puzzle.” Weblogs: Put Them to Work in Your Newsroom (Poynter Inst.) The social and literary importance of the weblog phenomenon extends far beyond commenting on the news,…

Becoming a Usability Professional

“Usability expertise is mainly an issue of talent and experience rather than theory. Much of usability work requires pattern matching, which is why it’s so dependent on brain power and past experience: Once you observe slight traces of a usability issue in users’ behavior, you must deduce the underlying implications for design.” Jakob Nielsen —Becoming…

Yahoo Admits Mangling E-Mail

Yahoo has admitted that it has been changing some of the words inside attachments accompanying messages sent to users of its web-based e-mail system. —Yahoo Admits Mangling E-MailBBC) Similar:Clever Modernization of Hamlet: Polonius with an iPhoneI teach Shakespeare in a literature clas…CultureEnjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropo…Enjoyed watching…

Point. Click. Think?

"The Internet makes it ungodly easy now for people who wish to be lazy," says a librarian in this article about the pitfalls of relying on the Internet for research. —Point. Click. Think? (WashPost) You can often find good information online, but novices should know how to recognize a peer-reviewed journal. Similar:No, this photo of…

No Bells, No Whistles: Just Games

"In an age of big-budget titles and state-of-the-art technology, Skotos wants to revive the old text genre." Brad King [See also the sidebar: "Games Started Off Without a Bang."] —No Bells, No Whistles: Just Games (Wired) Similar:#Blender3D practice: #Steampunk control panel #trimsheethttps://youtu.be/4j7qAzaDg3w   …AestheticsThe Best Halloween Costume Is a Robot Halloween Costume – Atlantic MobileAwesome…

Why is Software So Bad?

"In an amazingly short time, software has become critical to almost every aspect of modern life… Yet much software simply doesn’t work reliably."  Charles C. Mann —Why is Software So Bad? (MIT Tech Review) Similar:6 Problems with our School SystemI spend a lot of time re-educating my st…AcademiaMore modular low-poly background buildings. I’ll do some…

Blog to Cope With Alzheimer's Fog

"Seniors in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, with mild to moderate memory loss, are writing Web logs to help them make sense of their daily lives. And the activity, they say, is slowing the onset of their symptoms." Mark Baard —Blog to Cope With Alzheimer’s Fog (Wired) Similar:Facebook is predicting the end of the…

Half the World

"The phrase ‘Half the world has never made a phone call’ or some variation thereof has become an urban legend, a widely believed but unsubstantiated story about the nature of the world." Clay Shirky —Half the World shirky.com) Similar:Replaying Childhood: On Gifting my Video Games to the Library of CongressTevor Owens writes: Giving up my…