Worst Manual Contest

“The instructions in this manual explain more about how to get fired than about how to succeed at work…. For instance, employees are asked to follow ‘rules’ that include stealing, disobedience, and excessive absenteeism (or should they have been termed ‘actions that may result in termination’?).” (Suggested by Jason Amdor.) —Worst Manual Contest (Technical Standards,…

100 Best Fictional Characters since 1900

(NPR) —100 Best Fictional Characters since 1900 Similar:State officials: Bushy Run staff must consult with Native groups before staging reenactmen…When my kids were younger, trips to Busy…Culture'We're back': Bushy Run's 2023 battle reenactment will be heldI’m glad to know that this recent contro…CultureA Prof Debunks Standardized Testing & Pearson Strikes BackAll this emphasis on standardized…

Don't talk on the phone while driving.

2-year-old Morgan was broad-sided by a man who admitted he was distracted by his cell phone. Morgan was killed; the guy on the phone got a $50 fine and 2 tickets. —Don’t talk on the phone while driving. Similar:Healing the WebThe lessons I learned in just over an ho…BusinessDr. Bobby Teaches Ferris Bueller as RhetorMy…

Merchants of Cool

(PBS)  A report on the creators and marketers of popular culture for teenagers (teens talk back). —Merchants of Cool Similar:Khan Academy Gets Rare Partnership To Close Wealth Gap In College Test Prep“We think we can make the playing field …AcademiaHow to interact with the introverted…My daughter spends a lot of time with he…DesignFor the Uniform…

Digital Divide Basics

There has always been a gap between those people and communities who can make effective use of information technology and those who cannot. Now, more than ever, unequal adoption of technology excludes many from reaping the fruits of the economy. —Digital Divide Basics Similar:I am not up on My Little Pony lore. Can anyone suggest…

Debunking the Digital Divide

It may turn out that the “digital divide”—one of the most fashionable political slogans of recent years—is largely fiction. —Debunking the Digital Divide Similar:SPJ Journalist’s Toolbox Tools of the Month: Transcription favoritesTechnology is wonderful. My journalism s…JournalismMan Infected with Ebola Misinformation Through Casual Contact With Cable NewsOn the other end of the link, the New…

Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint

"After one too many bad presentations, I decided to see if I could do something about it. Back in my hotel room I decided to show what Abe Lincoln might have done if he had used PowerPoint rather than the power of oratory at Gettysburg." Peter Norvig —Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint Similar:You can be a…

The Social Life of Paper

“Computer technology was supposed to replace paper. But that hasn’t happened. Every country in the Western world uses more paper today, on a per-capita basis, than it did ten years ago.” —The Social Life of PaperNew Yorker) Similar:Facebook’s Censorship Problem Is What Happens When a Tech Company Controls the NewsFacebook makes editorial decisions that …BusinessMicrosoft's…

Interactive Fiction Online Gallery

I have a small collection of text-based computer games that you can play via a web browser.  These online versions won’t let you save and restore games, but they ought to get you started. —Interactive Fiction Online Gallery Similar:Journalists Verify ClaimsConfirm what your sources tell you. Fact…CultureMagnetic Scrolls Original Games Source Code Recovered!Here we have…

Star Trek Chaplains?

The first space colonists will probably take their faiths to the stars. The reference to “Star Trek” in the title of the article is cute, but Star Trek: The Next Generation was almost universally hostile to religious concepts (except when aliens presented them, that is). The more recent TV show Bablylon 5, although created by…

Bush's Orwellian Address

A progressive critique of Bush’s response to the 9-11 attacks, interpreting Bush in terms of George Orwell’s bleak totalitarian novel 1984:  "1984 has arrived. In his address to Congress Thursday, George Bush effectively declared permanent war — war without temporal or geographic limits; war without clear goals; war against a vaguely defined and constantly shifting…

You might have a Ph.D. if…

“‘Nigerian Money Offers’ zoomed from the seventh to the third most common type of online fraud last year, and the reason is obvious. In days gone by, the scammers had to canvass potential victims one at a time by fax and snail mail; now they have the speed, cost-effectiveness and anonymity of the Internet at…

The Last Words

"Asked by the firing squad commander if he had a last request, James Roges said, ‘Why yes. A bullet-proof vest!‘" Christopher Orlet —The Last Words (Vocabula Review) Similar:Everyone Should Get an ADoes a bus-driver-training school rank i…AcademiaVienna State Opera, funny ballet.Vienna State Opera, funny ballet. Слава …AestheticsThe Staying Power of "A Christmas Carol" — Dennis…

Girls Read Twice as Much as Boys

The survey, published by an organization promoting "World Book Day," probably does not count time spent in chat rooms, reading web pages as "reading", but the news item does not raise that issue. Related question: has feminism harmed boys? —Girls Read Twice as Much as Boys (BBC) Similar:How 'A Wrinkle in Time' Changed Sci-Fi ForeverI…

The Company Therapist

A "collaborative hyperdrama" purports to be the archives of a young psychiatrist offering his services to the employees of a dot-com.  "Through transcripts of therapy sessions, patient diaries and logs, doodles, personnel records, telephone conversations, and other written and graphical materials, the Company Therapist is designed to allow a deep exploration of its characters and…

Fine-Tuned: An Auto-mated Romance

Fine-Tuned is a free, text-based game, playable in many formats. From a review by Adam Cadre: “Not only has the author created an absolutely wonderful world, full of ‘anti-autoists,’ roving herds of goats, and fist-shaking train engineers, but it dares — and manages to pull off — a number of pieces of participatory comedy, which…

Accidental Genius

"In 1044, a Chinese manual on producing gunpowder-based weapons included cannons, bombs for lobbing at invaders, two-stage rockets, and land mines." Chinese researchers stumbled across the formula for gunpowder while researching what they called the "immortality pill".  What forces control the way inventions end up being used? Mark Robinson —Accidental Geniusb> (Wired) Similar:It’s alive! What…

Point and Think

The genius of Web sites for accommodating multiple points of view is nowhere better illustrated than in the recent on-line craze for public diaries, or “blogs.” The term is a shortening of Weblog – and also the name of the easy-to-use technology available at www.blogger.com: “Push-Button Publishing for the People.” Jeff Warren —Point and Think…

It's been six months since

September 11, 2001.It’s been six months since Similar:Sweet Lenten RegretsThis Lenten evening / Your orphaned feas…AestheticsViral App FaceApp Now Owns Access To More Than 150 Million People's Faces And NamesViral app FaceApp has been giving people…BusinessPhoenix journalist admits 'bad reporting' in claiming White House press censorshipNEWS FLASH: If your sources are an off-t…Current_EventsTonight's Supermoon.AestheticsIN-ZOOM (A…