“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:New Graphic for MLA Style Paper HandoutThe other day, I noticed that if you Goo…Academia'Dream' casting…
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:As if 2021 wasn't already bad enough, it managed to get Betty White. Beloved actress,…
: “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:Prototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?Many a high school…
. Painfully funny small-town satire from The Onion. —Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio Similar:How do I cite a tweet in MLA Style?According to the Modern Language Associa…AcademiaCollegewide game encourages small interactions around campusI confess I often check my messages and …AmusingWhy NORAD Tracks SantaThe call had come in on one of the top s…AmusingA…
“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:Your Students Learn by Doing, Not by ListeningToday one of my students gave a final pr…AcademiaHow to Get Boys to Sit Down with a BookResearchers and educators…
“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:I sometimes snark at the @Turnitin interface, but…I sometimes snark at the @Turnitin inter…CybercultureThe Importance of Writing Skills in Tech-Related FieldsGood writing skills are valuable,…
“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:Teenage Usability (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)Teens…
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…
“Organized religion was a primary target of every one of the twentieth century’s regimes of terror. But as is evident in Nazi and Communist terrors alike, organized irreligion (to put it in Royal’s sharp formulation) has proved far more dangerous than organized religion ever was.” Alicia Mosier Similar:Coronavirus: advice from the Middle Ages for how…
You might assume there could not be a worse time for a field calling itself “Internet studies.” You would be wrong. The Chronicle of Higher Education Similar:When Robert Pinsky Wrote a Video Game[F]or a brief time in the mid-nineteen-e…Culture35% of my site visitors right now are using mobile devicesThis year I have seen an uptick…
“Lambert received the e-mail in December, a piece of scrap in the vast electronic junkyard that is the World Wide Web. Regrettably, she says now, she removed the letter’s forwarding markers and unintentionally put her name at the bottom, making it appear that she was the author.” Washington Post —Don’t forward that e-mail just yet!…
“[W]hat could be more scholarly than a nice, authoritative statistic, quoted from a professional journal in the student’s field?” The Chronicle of Higher Education —Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics Similar:Make your case stronger – argue against yourselfAcademic argument depends on being able …AcademiaEven in the U.S., Chinese Students May Have Tiananmen ‘Amnesia’But…
The longer the company’s annual report, the less successful the company. This isn’t really a technical writing issue — usually companies with bad news to report need a lot of words to explaining themselves. But if this is what it takes to get some pinhead CEOs to appreciate brevity, so be it. Wired Similar:The Myth…
Danielle Preston —You Know You’re a Technical Writer When… Similar:10 top writing tips and the psychology behind themThere are plenty of folks happy to tell …AcademiaCNN Holds Morning Meeting To Decide What Viewers Should Panic About For Rest Of DayKicking around ideas ranging from an upt…AmusingNASA has flown a drone on Mars. A tiny robot.…
A student of mine makes comments on interactive fiction, garish colors, and dancing text. Jan Carroll —Just For the Record Similar:[E-Mail is for Old People] –[E-Mail is for Old People] (User Frie…AmusingWhere are Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, etc. in your "American Literature" syllabus?The following comment appeared recently …AcademiaAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel. #blender3d…
learns something from my freshman comp students. On March 13, 2000, I e-mailed web guru Jakob Nielsen to tell him that six of my freshmen spent 8-30 minutes on his site without finding a plain-text “search” link on the home page. A week or so later, I noticed that Nielsen changed his page, making the…
“[W]hen it comes to writing, whether you’re a seventh grader, a college student, a professor, a beginning copywriter, or an accomplished novelist, a B isn’t good enough.” Kathy Henning —For Writers, Writing Is Never a Waste of Time: Part 2 Similar:The Hidden World of the TypewriterWhen I was interning at a radio station …AestheticsDeadline seems…
“[A] society without literature, or a society in which literature has been relegated–like some hidden vice–to the margins of social and personal life, and transformed into something like a sectarian cult, is a society condemned to become spiritually barbaric, and even to jeopardize its freedom.” Mario Vargas Llosa Similar:Karate, Wonton, Chow Fun: The end of…