“Log onto almost any college Web site and you’ll see the same beautiful students talking about their beautiful campuses and how much they learn. But there are no numbers, no studies, no objective measurements.” —Wash. Monthly —What Do the US News Rankings Measure? Similar:Tolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?Interesting set of observations explorin…CultureUnvaccinated…
“Hey, all you crafty, capable women wearing chunky, horn-rimmed glasses (this year) and doing your brainy chick thing…” Hank Stuever, Wash. Post —Velma Rules — Jinkies! Similar:The case for puns as the most elevated display of wit Geary admits that he often makes pun i…CultureEmily Dickinson Manuscript for "The Chariot"A new Emily Dickinson archive is…
Failed to Practise What It Preached The magazine that chronicled the excesses of the dot.com revolution did not spot the extravagances that led to its own downfall. Mark Tran —Industry Standard Similar:Syllabusing Like a BossAcademiaAlmost Flat DesignApple, Google and Microsoft have very di…AestheticsIn an Unpredictable Job Market, How Should People Think About College Majors?I tell…
Include Your Children when Baking Cookies New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half —Real Headlines Similar:New Kindle Helps Readers Show Off By Shouting Title Of Book Loudly And Repeatedly New Kindle Helps Readers Show Off By S…AmusingThe secret history of “Y’all”: The murky origins of a…
Despite the technological hoopla, nobody’s paying attention to e-books but the courts. “Digitizing the printed page has put the very nature of books up for grabs, unleashing heated battles among writers, readers, librarians and technologists over who should control electronic books.” Chicago Tribune —E-Books Solving a Problem Consumers Don’t Have. Similar:Henry Bemis waited his whole…
Not-Work: “CNN acts like they’re the network of record in Millennial America, just because of their award-winning Gulf War coverage. That was so 10 years ago, and people only watched because there was no MSNBC back then.” The Onion —CNN Should be Named the Crappy News Similar:15 Times "Filler Text" Became a Journalist's Worst EnemyIt…
At first, Huck Finn said “as if” instead of “like,” “wasn’t” and not “warn’t,” and described a night sky “sprinkled”–not “speckled”–with stars. A new edition of the American classic traces Mark Twain’s efforts to refine the speech of his most famous character. LA Times —A New Read on Huck Finn’s Distinctive Voice Similar:Has Academia Ruined…
(Watch them instead.) “Create a few alternative designs, show them to a group of users, and ask which one they prefer. Wrong. If the users have not actually tried to use the designs, they’ll base their comments on surface features.” Jakob Nielsen —First Rule of Usability? Don’t Listen to Your Readers. Similar:To all these…
At a graveyard near where Beatrix Potter (author of the “Peter Rabbit” stories) spent her youth: “Names on headstones included Mr Nutkin, Mr McGregor, Jeremiah Fisher, Tommy Brock – and even a Peter Rabbett.” BBC —But what about Jemima Puddle-Duck? Similar:Selling Point (Audio Drama) I had fun recording this in the stud…AmusingIce Cream and Sharks…
“A modern language changes when we change it, and the metaphor that makes it autonomous only obscures our real task, which is to consider just how and why we change it.” Mark Halpern Similar:Short Stories: Developing Ideas for Short FictionI just supervised a teaching demonstrati…EducationIn October, 1999 I was blogging about college application essays, Willie…
“Author Jessica Kingley expressed regret Monday that she had ‘pretty much used up all the hardship‘ from her early life in her recent first novel Bitter Root, leaving her nothing to write about for her follow-up book.” The Onion Similar:Understanding Poetry INCIDENTAL COMICS: Understanding Poetr…CultureHow it feels to watch a user test your product for…
That said, we’ve decided to acknowledge our very favorite Web sites—five each in 10 subject areas—with the Scientific American.com Sci/Tech Web Award. It is an eclectic mix—from the practical to the academic to the downright silly. Among this year’s winners are sites that decode computer acronyms, explain group theory, unravel the genome, track chemistry in…
The second most popular form of entertainment after television, video games have rapidly become the largest segment of the entertainment industry. Mounting evidence lends support to what parents have suspected all along — violent videogames encourage violent behavior. Contemporary Pediatrics Similar:How Star Wars was saved in the editI learned a lot while watching this vide…AestheticsA…
: “Every report you ever write from this day until the day you die should start out by saying something nice about the product or service you are reviewing. Then you can get down to business.” Tog —How to Deliver a Report Without Getting Lynched Similar:Why Twitter’s Dying (And What You Can Learn From It)Someone…
. Painfully funny small-town satire from The Onion. —Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio Similar:“for every cliché of a barista or bartender with a liberal arts degree, there were ten wit…This story offers evidence to challenge …AcademiaI had a grand time recording this little story about a misunderstood genius who just wants… The Cask of…
“If anything, the recent expansion of literacy and educational opportunities has increased our access to literature and our enjoyment of it.” J. Peder Zane —What Good is Literature? Similar:Thinking a lot lately about masking and empathy, and my role as educator.Thinking a lot lately about masking and …CultureOnly a Dad (Edgar Guest poem, read by…
“Today, I’m one of the world’s leading anthropologists, an accomplished archaeologist, and an award-winning novelist. And, at 41, I’m only now becoming aware of the globetrotting rut I’ve been in my entire life. Looking back on everything I’ve seen and done, I can’t help but ask, ‘Is that all there is?’” more satire from The…
Microsoft Word requires at least 30% more keystrokes and 100% more mouse moves to accomplish certain editing tasks than would an optimal word processor. Forbes —Bad Design Can Be Costly Similar:Tweaking yesterday's #steampunk workstations. Now with darker wood (better contrast with c…AestheticsGoodbye, Google Search. I've switched to search.brave.com …for now. I can’t stand Pinterest. I…
“We are the Gist Generation. We have acquired a taste for hit-and-run, cut-and-paste knowledge. We expect a home page or e-mail correspondence to give us the gist and only the gist—time is money and you’re a click away from an iconographic trash can, so get to the point.” Jeff Barbian Similar:Don't Be Cruel[M]angled syntax, disordered…
This computer game tries something new. “If a character tells you he’ll call you tomorrow, he’s not kidding. You’ll have to wait a day to get his information. Faxes may arrive without warning, and instant messages may pop up onscreen when you least expect them — maybe even while you’re at work.” Wired.com —“Majestic” Invades…