What’s it like interviewing college students at job fairs? "What a snooze. By the sixth interview of the day I vow that I’ll hire anyone who can make me remember their name, and I’ll sign over my 401(k) to any candidate who can make me laugh." Erin Cronin —Honesty, Shining Throughb> (WashPost) Similar:Ian Bogost Has…
(Word Circuits): Hypertext poetry by Stephanie Strickland —The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot Similar:Blender GriffinTo celebrate yesterday’s on-time submiss…AestheticsDefend the Open Web: Keep DRM Out of W3C StandardsThe DRM proposals at the W3C exist for a…BusinessCopy Of The Scarlet Letter Can't Believe The Notes High Schooler Writing In MarginsBaffled that the young reader for…
"Calling the theological giant’s stranglehold on the religion industry ‘blatantly anti-competitive,’ a U.S. district judge ruled Monday that God is in violation of anti-monopoly laws and ordered Him to be broken up into several less powerful deities." —Judge Orders God to Break Up into Smaller Deitiesb> (TheOnion) Similar:In September, 2003, I was blogging about the…
"Write simply. Keep headings, summaries, sentences, paragraphs and documents short. Get to the point. Then stop." Gerry McGovern —The Need for Simple English on the Web Similar:About 30 years after I first saw John Speed’s 1676 map of York, today I was working on a r…About 30 years after I first saw John Sp…CultureIf not…
"Poor sad Mac, born in a plastic age. / A time when the world still thought in beige. / Crafted and molded just like a piece of art. / An orphan, abandoned. It’s enough to break your heart." [Which column would you put this one in? Sometimes I wonder why I continue to split my…
Kaycee Nicole, an attractive student dying from leukemia, shared her ordeal via on online diary. Her mother started a companion diary. Web surfers became close friends with this family through email, chatroom, and even phone conversations. The New York Times even quoted Kaycee about college life. When she finally died, her online friends grieved like…
Yahoo recently ran a story about a man suffocated by a stripper’s breasts… but it was a hoax first published in a tabloid. You may have heard recent reports about the airliner passenger stuck to a toilet seat. (MSNBC, BBC, CNN) Note that no names or dates are given. It’s a hoax. (Unless it’s a…
What is life like for a person who has trouble recognizing human faces? —Face-blindness Similar:How are you holding up? What difficult choices have you made? How can we all help each oth…Carolyn and were recently cast in a hist…CultureName-calling and ad hominem attacks don't provide anyone with reasons to change their mind…AcademiaWe Had the…
"[T]he search and directory firms have put their futures in question by flouting time-tested business practices that require an absolutely clear separation between editorial content and advertising." Hal Plotkin —Doom Ahead for Search Engines That Charge (SF Gate) Similar:Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happyMicrosoft limits long conversations to a…Current_EventsHow The Ballpoint…
When congressional Web sites are good, they’re really good. But most aren’t, says a nonprofit group that rated more than 600 of them. —Congressional Web Sites: Not So GoodCNN) Similar:Facebook Instant Articles Are on Their WayTons of large new media operations produ…BusinessNew Kindle Helps Readers Show Off By Shouting Title Of Book Loudly And Repeatedly…
found after 165 years. The watercolors were prototypes for engravings that the impoverished poet hoped would pay his bills. (Daily Telegraph) —Watercolors by William Blake Similar:Covfefe chaos: What Trump’s typos say about his administrationMisspelled tweets and typos in press rel…CultureIn August, 2002, I was blogging about ebook readers and email in teaching; how urban legen…In…
, creator of Pippi Longstocking, dies at 94. (Guardian) —Astrid Lindgren Similar:ink: Inkle's open source scripting language for writing interactive narrativeGearing up to teach “Digital Storytellin…CybercultureHow To Talk To Babies About Semiotics (and Marxist Theory)BABY: read dog book again ME: okay fine…AcademiaInverted Pyramid, #SharpieGate edition Context: Sunday, President Trump twe…Current_EventsFYI, 13yo skool grl is nu…
“The Web has decentralized the control of ideas, as A&LD proves. A few years ago the exchange of opinions and theories had to be managed by people living in great metropolitan centres, the intellectual world’s version of imperialism. But with the Web it can be done anywhere.” Robert Fulford —I Want my Arts & Letters…
"Don’t let anyone tell you that as a programmer you don’t have to make moral or ethical decisions. Every time you decide that making users feel stupid is better than fixing your code, you’re making an ethical decision." —Programmers Make Ethical DecisionsJoel on Software) Similar:Forgive and Remember: How a Good Boss Responds to MistakesI’m thinking…
(CLA) is a fellowship of individuals who share experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem with clutter and help others recover. The only requirement for membership is a desire to eliminate clutter and bring order into our lives. (via Remarked Bookmarks) —Clutterers Anonymous Ironic: when I was an…
The Space Shuttle’s Solid Rocket Booster problem began with the faulty design of its joint and increased as both NASA and contractor management first failed to recognize it as a problem, then failed to fix it and finally treated it as an acceptable flight risk.” —An Accident Rooted in HistoryNASA) 28 January, 1986. My senior…
The link above goes to the web version of a powerpoint presentation. Dennis G. Jerz —I Found it On the Internet: Teaching Students to Locate, Evaluate and Cite Online Sources Similar:Controlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a puff piece about popular HQ…A few minutes ago I heard about HQ for t…BusinessMy…
"Most weblogs are drivel, banal sh*t written by angst-ridden teenagers and adults sharing feelings, thoughts, and mind-numbing details about their daily lives that provide little insight into anything or anyone. But the gems can be found amongst the long-since abandoned or forgotten sites." John M. Grohol —Psychology of Weblogs Similar:R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Artistic Prosperity…
A prayer before surfing: “Almighty and eternal God, we beseech thee that, through the example of Saint Isidore, bishop and doctor, during our journeys through the Internet we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to thee and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter. Amen.”…
While Westerners may be surprised by the notion that poetry is an effective way to convey a political message, Bassam Frangieh says it is an integral part of Arab culture. —Of Poets, Prophets and Politics (Humanities) Similar:Personality Profiles: Prize-Winning Student Journalism SamplesThe personality profile is a staple of i…CultureJaz Parkinson "Colour Signatures"Amusing visual representations of…