“Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around.” Gordon Sinclair, 1973 —The Americans Similar:Seeing…
Harrowing first-person account from a survivor. —“I was in the building when it all happened.” Similar:Books vs. Kindles: The Choice No One Made Ever”I bought a Kindle. I didn’t immediately…BooksCitations: Efficient In-text QuotationsWhen writing a paper in MLA style, prefe…AcademiaWhat's a Snollygoster? Even lexicographers are wrong sometimesThis is an amusing little story about ho…CultureHigh School Poems…
Interesting article focuses on how people are using the Internet to react to the terrorists attacks on New York and Washington. Globe and Mail —Net Draws Fire, Offers Comfort in Wake of Disaster Similar:My copy of Plotkin's Hadean Lands arrived today. Current_EventsWTAE-TV's Wendy Bell fired over racially inflammatory Facebook posts I have no particular opinion on her…
“One of the broadest definitions is that of Umberto Eco, who states that ‘semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign’ (Eco 1976, 7). Semiotics involves the study not only of what we refer to as ‘signs’ in everyday speech, but of anything which ‘stands for’ something else.” Daniel Chandler —Semiotics…
“Skyscrapers in general, and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in particular, symbolize, for many writers, either prideful arrogance, or a new technological beauty.” Dennis G. Jerz —World Trade Center: Reflections on the Disaster Similar:Stage Right Water SpriteLast week my daughter and I were a littl…AestheticsWhat do students need to know about rhetoric?I…
“[T]here were big holes in the information offered. Across all four health conditions, nearly a quarter of the key questions were completely ignored, and less than half were given both more than minimal coverage and complete accuracy.” Rae Fry —Online Health Websites Frequently Inaccurate Similar:First They Got Sick, Then They Moved Into a Virtual UtopiaWhen…
Good web designers are a dime a dozen — just like the former armies of professional typists and word-processor operators, whose specialized tasks were eventually absorbed by the average office worker. Frank Yu, Gorilla Asia —Apocalypse Soon: Is the Web-Development Fairy Tale Over? Similar:While at Sadecky's Puppets to record the role of Heidi, Carolyn met…
“Children learning to read and write in English are slower to master it than other European youngsters learning their own language, new research suggests.” BBC —Children ‘Slow’ at Learning English Similar:Oregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its pathRawitsch, a lanky, bespectacled 21-year-…CultureVictorian Literature for Accounting MajorsIf I can get the English majors in my ne…Academia‘NPR…
cause many boating deaths. “[I]f you believe an accident occurs because of the hand of God or because George opened the can of beans with the label upside-down, then that gives you every reason to not read safety literature or continue learning about fishing.” National Post —Superstitions and carelessness Similar:Replaying Childhood: On Gifting my Video…
“A gentleman should always walk around a lady’s train and never attempt to step over it. If by accident he should tread upon her dress, he should beg her pardon, and if by greater awkwardness he should tear it, he must offer to escort her to the dressing room so that it may be repaired.”…
“An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication.” Brad Templeton —10 Myths about Copyright Explained Similar:Necessary Evil (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 8) Odo revisits his first case -…Rewatching ST:DS9 On a stormy night o…EmpathyWriting skill matters in the workforce.BusinessGoogle, AI…
The author of the first commercial computer game (“Adventureland,” 1978) leads a lively discussion on narrative, copyright, and violence. He also describes his first night playing EverQuest. UWEC English Festival. —Scott Adams: Storytelling in Computer Games Similar:Victorian Literature for Accounting MajorsIf I can get the English majors in my ne…AcademiaVandal scratches Poe phrase into car…
“It won’t be a large book, but you can write a small book and get acquainted with the basics of how to write a book.” [But see this discussion thread: “Theory: Write a web-book in a day“] —How To Write a Book in 10 Days Similar:Education: Teaching teachers how to teach readingI’m definitely seeing students…
“Without links, you might as well pile all the billions of documents on the Web into one huge container. Link management is therefore an important part of running a Web site.” Gerry McGovern, ClickZ —Broken Links and Poor Information Architecture Design Similar:Reading Game/Text: EverQuest, Alienation, and Digital Communitiesthough Limbaugh is wrong to decide that …CybercultureThe…
Helvetica Bold Oblique was the big winner at Tuesday’s 73rd Annual Fonty Awards, taking home 11 statues, including those for Best Sans Serif and the highly coveted 2001 Best Font prize. Satire from The Onion —Helvetica Bold Oblique Sweeps Fontys Similar:Why Love Lyrics LastI am inclined to agree with the “favorit…AcademiaComments on: A vane Osama…
Dimitri Sklyarov is an unlikely poster boy for American freedom. The Russian programmer was arrested after he spoke at the “Def-Con” hacker convention in Las Vegas about a program, offered for sale by his employer Elcomsoft, which cracks the encryption in Adobe’s e-book software. The Irish Times —Confusion Over Free Speech and Copyright Similar:Teacher suspended…
“While the lack of interest in buying electronic books may baffle some big publishers, the tepid demand comes as no surprise to some bibliophiles.” NY Times (requires free registration) —Forecasts of an E-Book Era Were, It Seems, Premature Similar:Dear Google: You Should Have Talked to Me FirstTeacher Jen Marten responds to Google’s …BooksVideo Tips for…
He taught ethics classes in California! LA Times —Law School Dean Fired for Plagiarism Similar:Skeleton Crew at BarebonesSupport the arts in your community. BusinessDaughter Carolyn plays Cherry in Prime Stage's production of The Outsiders (Mar 6-15)My daughter Carolyn plays Cherry in Prim…BooksReturn to Grace #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 14) Kira supercharges Dukat's cl…Rewatching…
“Handwriting is a basic skill that serves us all our lives. Unfortunately, a problem that primarily affects boys is rarely on anyone’s list of educational priorities.” Christina Hoff Summers —The Write Stuff Similar:Reading-Is-Fundamentalists Slaughter 52 IlliteratesCommitted to the eradication of illitera…CultureYork Plays 2025: Five cameras, adding up to ~100 hours of footage.Five cameras, adding up…
“[O]nce you have observed that the other is typically portrayed as lazy, dirty, stupid, crafty, womanly, passive, rebellious, sexually rapacious, childlike, enigmatic and a number of other mutually contradictory epithets, it is hard to know what to do next apart from reaching for yet another textual illustration of the fact.” London Review of Books —The…