Too much information? “[T] this weed in our informational landscape has just sprouted–it is only about 50 years old. Up until then, more information was almost always a good thing.” David Shenk —Data Smog Similar:Robot Dramas: Autonomous Machines in the Limelight on Stage and in SocietyA thoughtful overview of robots in cultu…AestheticsIn October 2001, I…
“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:Why Drag It Out?The ways that the informal speech of wom…CultureReading in…
“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:Every few years, I Google the name of the kid who saw "The Empire Strikes Back" the night …HistoryThe Emissary (ST:TNG Rewatch: Season Two, Episode 20) — Enjoyable Worf-centered…
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:Stop sharing those unsourced memes about "be woke" and "God doesn't need soldiers" — here…Pope Leo XIV, in his first address to jo…CultureWestmoreland County…
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:Merchant of Venice Part 2 live, now! #PPTPlaytimeDramaJitney ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 8 of 10)August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoi…BooksTwo Steps Down the Interactive Fiction RoadWonderfully detailed analysis of two gro…AestheticsWhat Borges…
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:One Man's Mission To Keep…
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:Using "Strive" as a NounObviously I know what my…
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:Happy retirement celebration…
(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:A Beginner's Guide…
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:Angel One (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 13) Sexist Amazon chief flips Riker leitmotif, t…Rewatching…
“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:The Toulmin model for analyzing arguments came up at a faculty pedagogy workshop today. I … AcademiaPen Pals (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2,…
“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:I touched up an intro to hypertext essays from 2000.When I initially wrote this introduction…CybercultureLie to…
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:Shakespeare’s Choose-Your-Own AdventureIf meeting three strange ladies in the s…AmusingAre "Keds" still a recognizable kid…
: “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:Journalism Tips: Newsworthy vs SnoozeworthyA newsworthy story is recent (rather…
. Painfully funny small-town satire from The Onion. —Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio Similar:NBC's Chuck Todd takes aim at CNN”The big danger always confronting CNN —…BusinessAnother NewsBreak.com Exclusive Exposes a Royal Family Lie #FakeNewsYou sheep who trust the lamestream fake …AmusingKickball Ice Cream Maker Is Both a Stupid and Awesome Idea$35 Kickball Ice Cream…
“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:Google's AI could probably beat you at AtariWhat’s significant in this story is not …CybercultureSeton Hill University "Technology Advantage"Not just a student laptop program. …AcademiaShakespeare on EclipsesPrepping for…
“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:Winky Winky Drudge ReportThe Drudge Report today features an amus…AmusingJerz and Daughter Teach Scratch (Digital Storytelling Tutorial)In the past I have posted tutorials for …CybercultureGo…
“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:The girl as the Spanish…