“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:We are in a golden age for journalismMost handwringing about…
“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:Letter of Recommendation: Fanny PacksWhat other accessory ensures the safety …CultureMisplaced Auto-playing ABC Video…
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:Harper Lee to publish new novel, 55 years after To Kill a MockingbirdLee said in…
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:Deadline seems…
“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:Beatrix Potter-pinching and Žižekian swipes: the strange world of book theftsWe caught a gent last Christmas with…
He taught ethics classes in California! LA Times —Law School Dean Fired for Plagiarism Similar:Washington Post Cartoonist Who Quit Over Bezos Cartoon Wins Pulitzer PrizeFormer Washington Post cartoonist Ann Te…Culture'Thought Leader’ gives talk that will inspire your thoughtsSaving this for the next time I assign a…AmusingWhen backwards newbie poets writeWhen backwards newbie poets write Up…
“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:Facebook Ad Refreshes Interrupt the Composition ProcessSo I’m trying to edit a Facebook status,…BusinessStudent: “Just wanted to let you know that your class…
“[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…
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:Google Books ruled legal in massive win for fair use (updated)Update in a legal battle that’s been goi…BooksShakespeare's Globe Theatre, Minecraft…
“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:English Is the Language of Science. That Isn't Always a Good ThingEnglish…
“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:What's wrong with the way I talk?Wife & daughter competing w each oth…AestheticsThe Life and Times of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯But, in addition to symbolizing despair,…CybercultureMa Rainey's Black Bottom ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle,…
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:Downloading Great ExpectationsA few weeks ago, I bought an audio recor…BooksThank You, Verizon, for this Confusing ScreenA few weeks ago, I had to get…
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:The Journey That Changed Geoffrey Chaucer’s LifeHis status as a deputy on a mission from…BooksThe End of Print JournalismThe future of print remains what? Try to…BusinessJournalists dream of puns like this.AmusingPICT’s…
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:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth…
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:Writing for the Godless: Flannery O’Connor on Dogma, Belief,…
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:Copspeak, "the past…
(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:They grew up…
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:A Christmas Carol — new audio adaptationBooksPrime Stage's THE OUTSIDERS Stays Golden at the New…
“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:Had a great time with AmLit students at the August Wilson block party AcademiaSo, What's in It for Me?All in all, I…
“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:The Miller of the Dee; by James Baldwin; read by Dennis JerzI showed up at the…